2021 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship
Round Eight Magny-Cours

---

The opening day of WorldSBK action from the Motul French Round at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours saw Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) storm to the top of the standings. Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) finished the opening day second quickest and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) third. The afternoon’s session was dry, after what had been a damp FP1 in the morning.

Toprak Razgatlioglu put in a long stint on the same tyres and set 11 mid-1’37s out a 13-lap run, showing his sensational consistency as he led the way for the main portion of the season and continued to improve his pace.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu – P1

“Today in the first Free Practice, with the bad conditions it was not a really an easy start and for me it is also the first time I ride a Yamaha at this track in the dry conditions. We change some set-up for FP2 and I am feeling much better! I tried a race simulation of 15 laps – which was very, very positive. We are happy because we found a good improvement in the afternoon, the R1 is working very well here and now we are ready to race. We need to win again, and I aim to fight for the victory.”

Team-mate Andrea Locatelli was a little bit behind his teammate as he adapts to Magny-Cours on a WorldSBK bike. Tracking his teammate at various points throughout the session. Come the end of the day, it was Razgatlioglu who was fastest, whilst Locatelli ended up in 11th, as he continues to get used to the R1 around the French circuit.

Andrea Locatelli – P11

“It was a difficult first day in the end, but also I am happy – we don’t see a top position overall but we work very well. We tried to make a long run this afternoon, it is my first time here in Magny-Cours with this bike and the pace was not so bad! For sure we need to try to search for a little bit more speed, especially in sector two, but in general I am happy because it is the first time. We need to work a little bit around the bike and also I need to understand the track, but tomorrow we can improve. It’s not easy, I have never seen the track in the dry because last year in WorldSSP I only ride in the wet conditions, but we will see what is possible and for sure we will try to get the maximum.”

Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was up inside the top six as he continued to get to grips with the Magny-Cours circuit in the dry conditions for the first time in his career. Having been inside the top two positions for the last seven races, Redding is coming into the Motul French Round in fine form and was good in the mixed conditions in the morning. Redding finished the afternoon in second with teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi down in ninth, with work to do for the Italian.

Scott Redding – P2

“It was quite a weird day for me as I have never ridden on this circuit in dry conditions. For this reason, in the first part of the session, I focused mainly on finding the feeling with the circuit. Then I was able to find my pace and things went much better. We are in the right direction and I think we can improve tomorrow”.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi – P9

“In FP1 we didn’t take any risks on a track that was half dry and half wet. In the afternoon we worked a little differently compared to other races, lapping a lot and reducing the set-up work. The feeling is quite good even if obviously we need to improve. At the end of the day, we are all pretty close to each other and I think that if we work well tomorrow morning we’ll be able to make a good race“.   

The Kawasaki pairing of Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and team-mate Alex Lowes were in good form as they took to the dry Magny-Cours circuit. Rea set a consistent pace and for the majority of the session, was sitting well inside the top five, whilst Lowes was also right with his teammate. The British duo worked away hard until the end of the session, before finishing third and eighth respectively, having been first and third in the morning’s damp-but-drying session. Rea’s in-touch with his Championship rival Razgatlioglu, but the Turk’s pace might well be giving him the edge over the race distance if conditions are to remain the same across Saturday and Sunday.

Jonathan Rea – P3

“I did not feel completely comfortable on the bike today. I feel consistent, just consistently slow! In that last part of braking and tipping into the corner I feel I am losing a little bit. Aside from that, some areas where we have been really strong in the past, like sector one, I have been struggling. There are a lot of bumps in Turn One and the bike is not really absorbing them so well. It is taking the edge off full commitment because the bike is moving around. It is just a case of going through what we have learned this afternoon and comparing it with what we have had in the past. We know the bike works well here and we will try to make a step for tomorrow.”

Alex Lowes – P8

“It was a good day – and my first day around Magny Cours on the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR in dry track conditions. Last year we had every session wet, which made it a strange weekend! The bike feels good and I really enjoyed it this afternoon in FP2. It was nice and consistent and we have a couple of areas we know to improve in for tomorrow. A positive first day in France for me.”

The Independent charge was led by Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) in fourth place, with the Welshman going well at a circuit he took a podium at in his most recent race at the circuit. The next Independent came from Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and the American was constantly improving his time all the way to the end of the session. The two were the only riders inside the top ten from Independent teams but Davies in particular looks strong, with the Ducati rider constantly within the top five throughout the dry FP2 session.

It was a bright start to the weekend for one side of the Honda garage as Leon Haslam (Team HRC) completed the top five, showing his strengths around the Magny-Cours circuit. However, on the other side of the garage, Alvaro Bautista was down in 12th place, with the Spaniard working away on the Honda with it being his first day of dry weather running on the bike since joining the team. The potential is there this weekend, and with dry weather scheduled for the remainder of the weekend combined with wet running at the start of the day, Team HRC could be set for a stronger weekend than in recent rounds.

Leon Haslam – P5

“We had no information for this track with the Honda, as last year it was wet, so the first dry laps we’ve completed here were this afternoon. Things weren’t so bad as far as lap times are concerned. There are still some areas in which we need to improve but the things we’ve found in testing can definitely help us make a step here. That wasn’t the case in Navarra, which probably was one of the most difficult weekend for us so far sadly, but at this circuit I think we’ve already made a step. We are trying to improve on corner entry mainly, and front feeling too. Here we have three corners where we are struggling, the stop-stop type of corner, but in the first sector, the fast flowing one, the bike is very strong. So we’ll keep working as we always do and we will see where we can go.”

Alvaro Bautista – P12

“Finally we had a dry session here at Magny Cours this afternoon, a first one for us with Honda, because last year it rained the whole time and this morning the track was wet. We did a little bit of tyre testing to get some feeling in the dry and I have to say that the new asphalt is quite good, there are not many dips, especially considering that we’re coming from Navarra. We tried to improve our grip at maximum lean angle and our traction, the two areas where we suffer the most really. In the end, we are a little behind in the classification, but the times are very close and the gap is not too great. Tomorrow we will try to improve as much as we can because even a few tenths will make the difference in terms of our position. It’s important to complete a good qualifying lap to secure a good grid position. We are usually stronger in the second half of the race so starting as far ahead as possible will be important.”

The BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team enjoyed a good day’s work, as Tom Sykes took sixth place and was top BMW overall, although teammate Michael van der Mark was second in the mixed conditions in the morning session. Unfortunately for van der Mark, the Dutchman suffered a technical problem at Turn 11 during FP2, cutting his track action short. Sykes was just less than half a second from Toprak’s time, whilst van der Mark completed the top overall, edging out Locatelli by just 0.018s.

Tom Sykes – P6

“Session one was obviously not too valuable, so the plan was to get our head down for session 2 but unfortunately, we did have a little bit of an issue with the bike but luckily I was able to get back to the pits. The guys did a fantastic job of turning it around and getting me back out there, so we had to miss a little bit of our schedule out and ultimately, we did have to compromise our plan. The good thing was that we were still in the top 6, but for sure we will look to improve on this tomorrow and keep working to get into the top 5.”

Michael van der Mark – P10

“To be honest this day has not been that bad. This morning we had to wait until the track was dry and when we had a dry line, I felt fast on the bike and had a good feeling with the BMW M 1000 RR. In FP2, I started really well but struggled with stopping the bike as it felt a bit nervous, so we tried to solve that. Towards the end of the session with a fresh tyre I made a mistake when on a good lap, and then unfortunately we had a mechanical issue right at the end of the session. But overall, I am feeling good with the bike. We haven’t changed too many things, so the base of the bike feels good. We just need to make the bike a little more stable on braking.”

The best of the rest consisted of Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) who was 13th but just 1.096s from top spot and was more than a tenth clear of local hero Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) in 14th. Jonas Folger (Bonovo MGM Racing) was 15th on his Magny-Cours debut, ahead of Leandro Mercado (MIE Racing Honda Team) and Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Team), with the Spaniard suffering an off-track excursion. Another home-hero Christophe Ponsson (Gil Motor Sport Yamaha) was 18th, ahead of Isaac Viñales (ORELAC Racing VerdNatura), Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) – who crashed at Turn 8 – and Loris Cresson (OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing). Cresson’s previous teammate, Jayson Uribe, isn’t at Magny-Cours due to travel issues.

World Superbikes Combined Times

---

WorldSSP

There was a big accident in the opening stages of the WorldSSP session with Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) and Hikari Okubo (G.A.P. MOTOZOO Racing by Puccetti) going down at Turn 3, with Okubo being taken to the medical centre for a check-up. By the end of the session, it was Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) on top of the standings, leading for most of the afternoon.

Dominique Aegerter was in fine form throughout the afternoon’s running, with the Swiss bouncing back after losing his time in the opening session of the weekend for a yellow flag infringement. Aegerter kept improving right into the closing stages and had the better of Federico Caricasulo (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing), with the Italian up in second after leading the way in FP1. Finding form at a circuit he’s more familiar with. He edged out the youngest ever WorldSSP race winner Andy Verdoïa (GMT94 Yamaha), as he flew the French flag up in third place.

Verdoïa’s teammate Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha), with the Frenchman in fourth and finding a good rhythm at his home circuit. In fifth place and making it three French riders inside the top five was Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha), with the wildcard going well and giving the home crowd to cheer about. Up in sixth place was Finnish rider Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti), as he returns to the track he won at back in the 2017 campaign, although he didn’t improve on his time.

Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was in seventh, as the German rider aims to get back to the front although he’s not found it easy on the opening day of action. Turkey’s Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was the next of the Kawasaki’s in the order and eighth, just under a quarter of a tenth clear of Steven Odendaal in ninth place. Both riders set 20 laps, one more than Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) in ninth, as the German rider aims to get back to the front although he’s not found it easy on the opening day of action. Luca Bernardi (CM Racing) completed the top ten as he gets up to speed with the Magny-Cours layout.

Notable names outside of the top ten include Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGO Team), who was on a good final lap before losing his time due to exceeding track limits, dropping to 12th, whilst Kevin Manfredi (Altogo Racing Team) was lead WorldSSP Challenge rider in 13th. Randy Krummenacher (EAB Racing Team) was only 14th. Hannes Soomer’s (Kallio Racing) return saw him in 25th, whilst Unai Orradre (Yamaha MS Racing) graduates to WorldSSP for the rest of the year and his first day of action saw him in 26th.

WorldSSP Combined Times

---

WorldSSP300

WorldSSP300 Championship leader Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) headed Friday’s running in both wet and dry conditions, with his time over eight-tenths clear of his nearest rivals on the dry track ahead of the Motul French Round.

Huertas was fastest in the first 30-minute session in wet but drying conditions and continued that form into the second session with a time of 1’52.859s, comfortably the fastest time of the day. The only dry running in the afternoon was interrupted by a Red Flag with just over two minutes to go when Miguel Santiago Duarte (Yamaha MS Racing) suffered a mechanical issue at Turn 8, with the session ending early.

Reigning Champion Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) was in second as he looks to close in on the Championship leader, but he was eight tenths back from Huertas. Reigning Champion Buis had a four-tenths advantage of Tom Booth-Amos (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) in third place, with the field closing up behind Booth-Amos; with the top three in the Championship also the top three in the standings after Friday.

Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Yamaha Motoxracing) claimed fourth place after a challenging day which included a highside crash at the final corner in this morning session, but he was able to re-mount and re-join the session. Australian Harry Khouri (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) claimed fifth place in a strong session, only one-tenth behind Booth-Amos.

Samuel di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo) was another who had a strong session with sixth place, finishing ahead of Daniel Mogeda (Team# 109 Kawasaki) who claimed seventh on his WorldSSP300 return. Inigo Iglesias (SMW Racing) secured eighth after the two 30-minute sessions with Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing) and Hugo de Cancellis (Prodina Team WorldSSP300) rounding out the top ten.

Dutchman Koen Meuffels (MTM Kawasaki) had a crash in Free Practice 1 after a highside exiting the final chicane but was able to re-join the session and responded by taking 11th place in the combined classification. Victor Steeman (KTM Freudenberg WorldSSP Team) was 12th with Yeray Ruiz (Yamaha MS Racing) in the top 15 on his debut. Gabriele Mastroluca (ProGP Racing) was 14th with Marc Garcia (Prodina Team WorldSSP300) in 15th upon his return to the Championship.

Wildcard entrant Alexy Negrier (Alexy Moto Racing) crashed during the second practice session in the afternoon and was unable to re-join the session, with the crash occurring in the opening stages of the 30-minute outing at Turn 15. Filippo Maria Palazzi (ProGP Racing) was declared unfit after Free Practice 1 after a crash at Turn 7. Although he was able to re-join the session, he was taken to the medical centre and ruled out of the weekend with a right wrist contusion.

Sylvain Markarian (Leader Team Flembbo) also suffered from a crash in Free Practice 1, but was able to take his bike back to the pit lane and go out, while Antonio Frappola (Chiodo Moto Racing) crashed and returned to the circuit at Turn 13; Markarian claiming 30th place and Frappola 39th. Vicente Perez Selfa (Machado Came SBK) had a technical issue in FP1 but was able to claim 18th place after Friday’s running.

WorldSSP300 Combined Times

---

Motul French WorldSBK Round schedule

Source: MCNews.com.au