WorldSBK/SSP/SSP300 Sunday wrap from Magny-Cours

2022 FIM Superbike World Championship
Round Seven – Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, France

WorldSBK Superpole Race

Racing action in the MOTIL FIM Superbike World Championship resumed on Sunday at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours as reigning Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) took a hard-fought victory during the Pirelli French Round’s Tissot Superpole Race.

Razgatlioglu got a poor start after a mono off the line when the lights went out and dropped down to fourth place, but was soon able to battle back as he passed Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) for third.

The Turk then passed Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) on Lap 4 at the 180 Degree corner.

On Lap 6, he passed race leader Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) at Turn 13 to take the lead and from there he extended his gap to almost two-seconds after 10 laps.

Bautista came back at Razgatlioglu on the penultimate lap, and broke the wing off his V4 R after brushing the back of Toprak’s YZF-R1.

Bautista claimed second spot after a last-lap fight with Rea, with Rea making a move at Turn 13 and Turn 15, but Bautista cutting underneath the six-time Champion into the chicane to hold on to second place with Rea in third.

Razgatlioglu claimed his 25th win and 70th podium, while Bautista took his 45th, putting him level with Leon Haslam and Stephane Mertens.

Rea claimed his 231st career podium but now finds his winless streak at 11 races, his longest since 2019.

Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) had a race-long fight over fourth place, with Lowes coming out on top to take fourth.

Axel Bassani and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) once again battled on track, with Bassani able to come out on top for sixth.

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American Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) claimed eighth ahead of Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) and Andrea Locatelli.

Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) had tried to use the SCQ tyre to make up places in the 10-lap race, but a crash at Turn 5 halfway through the race put an end to his charge when running inside the top nine positions.

WorldSBK Superpole Race Results

WorldSBK Race Two

Drama was never far away throughout the final 21-lap encounter and it started on Lap 2 at Turn 13, when Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) made contact with Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati); the Ducati rider going through the gravel and retiring from the race. Rea was deemed to be at fault for the clash and was given a Long Lap Penalty which he served on Lap 7, re-joining the race in seventh after losing a few positions.

The collision allowed Razgatlioglu and Bassani to move ahead and on Lap 3, Bassani made a move for the lead at Turn 11, and he remained there until Lap 8, when Rinaldi made an incredible double move into Turn 11 to move into first, with Bassani dropping down to third place.

Rinaldi tried to pull away from Razgatlioglu at the front of the field but, at Turn 5 on Lap 14, the reigning Champion made his move for the lead of the race. After that, Razgatlioglu was able to drop Rinaldi to win by more than one second.

Bassani claimed third place but he had to resist a late charge from Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), with the British rider taking his second fourth place finish of the French Round.

Lowes was six seconds clear of team-mate Rea, with the six-time Champion only able to make up a couple of places after his long lap penalty to finish fifth; Rea trails Bautista by 47 points in the Championship.

One rider Rea was able to pass was Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), when Rea took advantage of Redding running wide at the 180 Degree corner to move up to fifth. Rea’s winless streak now spans 12 races, his longest since a run of 33 without a win in 2012 and 2013.

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) took seventh place after a late-race battle with Yamaha stablemate Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team), with just 0.255s separating the pair at the end of the race.

Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) finished ninth on home soil, ahead of Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) who rounded out the top ten.

Alongside Bautista as a retirement, Leandro Mercado (MIE Racing Honda Team) after a technical problem in the early stages of the race, while Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) crashed out at Turn 15 on Lap 3. Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) crashed out of the race at Turn 3 on Lap 10. Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW) was the final retirement.

WorldSBK Race Two Results

WorldSBK Rider Quotes

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu

“Yesterday for me was very bad luck, but today here we are very strong. Superpole Race we win and important for me Race 2, because we take very big points and I am winning. I am very happy, this is my favourite track and normally my dream is for three wins this weekend but yesterday for me was bad luck. 

“Today we changed all the braking kit and I am feeling much better, we also improved the bike and I just keep fighting for the win. I see Rinaldi, the last 10 laps, I am just watching but he started to slide with the rear tyre and I say, okay, now I pass him and try a good pace. Sometimes it is good planning in the race! But we are winning again and I am happy.”

Alvaro Bautista

“Rea’s behaviour was unacceptable because he didn’t make a mistake but hit me intentionally. It’s a manoeuvre you don’t expect from any rider, especially from a World Champion. Fortunately, I suffered no physical consequences in the crash. As if that wasn’t enough, he suffered a penalty that still allowed him to score points. I think it’s a really bad episode for the whole of Superbike also in terms of example for the young riders. In any case, we look ahead. I can’t wait to be in Barcelona.”

Jonathan Rea

“I made a pretty bold set-up change before the Superpole race. I felt we needed to put a bit more weight on the front to help the bike turn more naturally and get more rear stability. I think it worked in the Superpole Race. There was a last lap battle and we finished third. 

“In Race Two I made a pretty good getaway but found myself in third and then fourth. I knew I was strong at Turn 13 all weekend. I saw Toprak Razgatlioglu going away and I wanted to go down the inside of Alvaro Bautista. He came back to his line, I was there, and we touched. I was on my limit on the inside to make the manoeuvre, but I didn’t blow the corner by any means. I made my apex and unfortunately he went down. I am really sorry for that because it was really not my intention. I want to make that clear, there was zero bad intention. 

“I have been to see Alvaro. I offered my apologies and tried to give my point of view. I listened to his point of view, so for me that is turn the page now. I had to take my long lap penalty and it was a lonely race then. Race Two was a fifth place and not a great weekend overall, so we will try to turn the page now and go to Barcelona.”

Michael Rinaldi

“I am very happy with this result. It was a very tough race with many battles. I pushed hard in the middle part of the race to stay in front and maybe at the end I didn’t have enough grip to fight with Toprak. But this podium gives us a lot of morale and also the knowledge that we can be very fast. I want to thank the whole team, who has always supported me”.

Alex Lowes

“I was happier today than I was yesterday but I panicked a bit in the middle of the long race. In the Superpole race, I was happy enough. I was behind Scott Redding and I couldn’t really pass him, although I tried. Then when he made a little mistake I was able to put some good laps in. I was on a very similar pace to Johnny, which normally means you are riding quite well. 

“In Race Two I started to slide a bit on the front, especially in the long third turn. I was expecting the tyre to drop but after a couple of laps it came back to me and felt good. I was able to push hard to the end of the race. I have had more confidence on the gas, to drive the bike off the corner, after the test in Barcelona recently. On fresh tyres, at the start of the second race, I felt like I was losing time and it was too easy for the other guys to pass me. But apart from that I was quite happy with the bike and the weekend’s work.”

Scott Redding

“I am pretty happy. To take the podium here and the first front row are the positives we take and the negatives are not that bad. We just struggled a little bit in acceleration areas in this track and that was costing me too much time.

“I think without that lack of acceleration I would have probably been fourth in race two but that was our only real weak point so when we look at the other parts, it was good. We just need to understand why I was losing so much out of the slow corners.

“I can walk away happy and we just need to look to the next race and keep trying to improve to the end of the year. We are learning. It is another track, it is another small problem we need to address. We have just to keep improving bit by bit. It is not going to be straight forward, it is going to be a little bit up and down, but as long as we keep getting there, it is good.

“For me it’s nice that BMW can get something back because they are putting in hard work. We’ve still got a long way to go but we are able to be there sometimes and the plan before the season was to get there, if we can get a podium, let’s do it, if not to understand the data so we can improve. And we are taking that. We have taken the way we wanted to go now so we have to be a bit more competitive to the end of the season and I think we are on the right track.”

Andrea Locatelli

“In Race 2 we improved a lot in respect to yesterday and also to the Superpole Race this morning, especially because in the sprint race I did some mistakes in the first lap and the last lap. We lost the opportunity to start Race 2 from P9, so we started again from P12 but was a different story today! I could improve on the lap time and the rhythm, so this was a big improvement and also I fought a lot until the end to try to stay in front and finish P7. For sure, the results were not my expectation for the weekend but this is what we could bring home in the end. Now we need to go from here and push again for Barcelona to close the gap and start closer to the front again.”

Garrett Gerloff

“Today was a bit difficult, everybody had really good pace. The Superpole Race is always hectic and tough to manage, but at least I was able to recover to eighth place, which is better than nothing. Same thing in Race 2, I had contact from another rider and went wide, so I had to fight my way back. It is what it is, but I’ll keep fighting and focus on Barcelona, where I have good memories from 2020.”

Iker Lecuona

“This has been a very tough weekend for us, for several reasons. A new track, we lost Friday due to the bad weather and struggled with the bike setup… It seems we were lacking something in various areas, which prevented us from learning and improving.

“My start in the Superpole race was very bad today and I found myself seventeenth on the first lap! I felt very strong though and was able to climb back up to tenth before the rear tyre dropped with two laps to go. Finishing eleventh meant that I had to start further back in Race 2 and I felt really frustrated about that.

“I started better anyway, passing some riders through the first corner and trying to push to make up further positions. But again something happened and I almost lost the front through turn eight. I managed to save it, picking up the bike somehow, after which I stuck more or less with Locatelli, Baz and Gerloff but wasn’t unable to catch them, despite trying right the way to the last corner. We need to learn from this, to understand what happened during the weekend so we can come back stronger for the next race.”

Xavi Vierge

“It has been a weekend of ups and downs because we showed some speed but weren’t able to put it to good use to reach our targets. Yesterday we had very good pace but couldn’t maintain it until the end of the race. In today’s Superpole race I was making a very good comeback but then I made a small mistake in my braking and crashed. Then I failed to make a strong start to race 2 and lost more ground when Van der Mark crashed in front of me, as I had to avoid him. In trying to push hard to recover, I then crashed again. I can only apologize to my team for these two mistakes, I was giving 100% every lap and I will continue to give it my all.”

Loris Baz

“It was a good weekend. I was happy to back racing at home. That was really cool; a lot of people have been here and that’s always nice. We had a great chance for a podium yesterday. It was cool that there were two BMWs fighting for a podium spot. We can definitely see the progress from a couple of races now. I was closer to Scott yesterday but unfortunately had the crash but I had to try it. 

“Today was a bit harder. We expected that because of the high temperatures. We still struggle more in the low grip conditions. In the Superpole race, we had a small issue with the shifter. It was really hard to shift back and I got a cramp in my leg, which made me struggle a bit still in race two. 

“Overall, the pace was okay and the gap to the front guys was much closer than a few races ago so we are heading in the right direction and we need to keep working like this. I am happy that I feel better on the bike. Barcelona will be a big challenge because of the grip level but we will try our best there too.”

Michael van der Mark

“I am fully fine; it was a big crash but I am really disappointed because this morning in the Superpole race I had a good start and some nice battles. I was really enjoying it and I felt like I was coming back to my old speed. I was really happy being back fighting with the guys. 

“For race two, we changed the bike a little bit. I had a really good start again and tried to catch up with the group and I lost the front in turn 14. Unfortunately that was the end. It was not the ideal end of the weekend, because this weekend was mainly for us to get back up to speed and get the feeling back and we were really going well so far. It was just a shame to end the weekend like that but now I am looking forward to Barcelona.”

Eugene Laverty

“To retire from race two was not the way I wanted to end the weekend but there was an electronic issue and I had to come to the pits early. Overall it has been a difficult weekend as I was struggling with pace. I need to try and get somewhere near to the other BMW guys. We keep working hard to improve for the next race.”

Kohta Nozane

“Overall the day wasn’t too bad, but it’s not enough. We tried something different for Race 2 and the pace was OK, even though in the final stages I struggled a bit with the tyres. To come back and score points is positive, but we are aiming for more. We’ll head to Barcelona now, I like the circuit so we’ll try to enjoy a strong weekend there.”

WorldSBK Championship Points

WorldSSP600 Race Two

As action commenced, Baldassarri looked to repeat his Saturday performance, taking the lead on the opening lap and held the advantage until lap six. Locked in battle with the Ducatis of Nicolo Bulega and Federico Caricasulo and Yamaha counterpart Jules Cluzel, the Italian fought back, re-claiming the lead on lap nine and immediately picked up the pace.

Meanwhile, from fifth on the grid, championship leader Dominique Aegerter endured a tough start as he was shuffled back to seventh in the opening lap battle. Unfazed, the Swiss rider immediately began his rise through the field, passing Oli Bayliss for sixth. From there, the Ten Kate rider picked off the opposition one by one and eventually joined the leading battle by the halfway point.

Letting his experience come to the fore in what was a highly contested fight for the lead, Aegerter stormed passed Bulega before passing Cluzel two laps later. With his eyes set on the leading duo, the 31-year-old was promoted to second following a mistake for Federico Caricasulo ahead, leaving a head-to-head battle with Baldassarri to unfold as he took the lead.

Defending from Baldassarri up until the last lap, the Italian made a mistake at the Chateaux D’Eau, crashing out of contention, resulting in a fifth-place finish for the former Moto2 rider.

After announcing his retirement in the lead up to the French round, Jules Cluzel made his podium return in second place after getting the better of Bulega in the closing stages, whilst wildcard star Valentin Debise stormed to fourth ahead of Baldassarri.

25 points sees Aegerter extend his series lead to 19 points, sitting atop of the standings with a 286 points total.

Having once again started from eighth on the grid, on the third row, Oli Bayliss did better than he did in race 1. After making a strong start, which saw him move into fourth through the first turn, the Australian was unable to keep pace with the front-runners and slipped back through the field to twelfth. In the second half of the race, Bayliss making up places thanks to some crashes but also an impressive series of passes that meant he crossed the line in eighth position. By finishing ninth in race 1 and eighth in race 2, Oli scored 15 championship points and now lies fourteenth in the championship with a points tally of 47.

Countryman Ben Currie finished 23rd.

Dominique Aegerter – P1

“It was a hard race, for sure! My qualifying position wasn’t fantastic and yesterday my first lap wasn’t good. Today it was better, but a few riders pushed me wide, and I lost a lot of positions. My goal was to get to the front group as quick as possible, which with the gap took a while, but my pace was good, and we got to the front. It was a good weekend overall, we extended our championship lead and secured a podium and a race win, so a big ‘thank you’ to my team for giving me a great bike after missing a lot of dry running. We now go to Barcelona where we will again fight for victory but I’m sure it will be a hard battle with Lorenzo Baldassarri”.

Jules Cluzel – P2

“It’s a dream to get a podium at my home round, it’s like a victory and one I will remember for a long time! After announcing my retirement, I wanted to prove I am still fast and to be able to remember and enjoy the final races of my career. My next target is to get a race win before the end of the season. I’m looking forward to the upcoming rounds, especially when we travel to the overseas race. Next is Barcelona, which is a new track for me on the Supersport machine, so my focus is to work hard there and get to Portimao and the oversea races as strong as possible to fight for a victory”.

Nicolò Bulega – P3

“It was quite a difficult weekend. We struggled a lot and we have to understand why. The competition seemed to have another pace and I would like to congratulate Caricasulo because he went very strong and deserved to take points. I tried to break away from the group immediately by pushing in the early laps and it was the right strategy. In the end, I was lucky but still, I had the merit of being ready to take advantage of the opportunity. I want to thank the team who did a great job as always.”

Lorenzo Baldassarri – P5

“On Saturday, we had a very important victory. I have to thank the team, who after Friday’s crash set the bike up perfectly and helped me to get the right feeling again. I made a good progression in the race, and victory was the best possible reward! About the race on Sunday, it was a big shame. I kept a really fast pace, which I was partly not expecting, in a really demanding race. In the middle of the race Caricasulo and I got a bit annoyed, which allowed Aegerter to catch us. On the last lap I was preparing the final attack, with the situation under control, but in turn 13 changing trajectory led to my crash. It’s a shame, but the competitivity shown motivates us for the next races“.

Oli Bayliss – P8

“Overall, it’s been a good weekend. We’ve made a lot of progress over the three days. In the second race, we struggled a lot with grip, but we’ll continue to work to solve this issue. The team did a great job throughout all the sessions, providing me with a competitive bike.”

The FIM Supersport World Championship returns to action at round nine eight for the Catalan round on the 23-25th September.

WorldSSP600 Race Two Results

WorldSSP600 Championship Points

WorldSSP300 Race Two

Victor Steeman (MTM Kawasaki) produced an incredible comeback from a double Long Lap Penalty to claim a stunning victory in Race 2 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours for the Pirelli French Round, while Alvaro Diaz (Arco Motor University Team) was able to extend his lead in the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship standings as he broke records to take a 40-point advantage into the penultimate round.

Steeman was given a double Long Lap Penalty for causing a pile-up at Turn 5 in Race 1, and he took that in the early stages of the race. He re-joined the race in 19th place but put in a series of rapid laps to catch the lead group, before fighting his way through it. On Lap 10, Steeman made a stunning move into the Turn 5 Adelaide hairpin to take the lead, briefly extending his lead to almost a second as he claimed victory.

Over the final laps, Diaz had moved into second place and closed the gap to Steeman, but was unable to catch up enough to make a move with Steeman winning by three tenths of a second, while Dirk Geiger (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) took third place.

Steeman’s win gave him his fourth win and sixth podium, while Diaz’s second place made WorldSSP300 history: he now holds the record for most podiums in a season, with nine, and the longest streak of podiums with six consecutive rostrum visits to his name.

Geiger took his maiden podium in Race 2 and became the 41st different rider to stand on a WorldSSP300 podium.

French rider Hugo De Cancellis (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) was the highest-placed French rider with fourth place, finishing just over half-a-second away from Steeman out in front.

Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) had been fighting at the front and converted that into fifth place, a tenth behind De Cancellis, while he was seven tenths clear of Kevin Sabatucci (Kawasaki GP Project) in sixth place.

Wildcard rider Petr Svoboda (Accolade Smrz Racing) took seventh spot after a strong showing from the Czech rider, with Svoboda finishing three tenths clear of Bruno Ieraci (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) in eighth place.

Humberto Maier (AD78 Team Brasil by MS Racing) made it four consecutive points finishes in a row with ninth place with Inigo Iglesias (SMW Racing) rounding out the top ten.

Gabriele Mastroluca (ProGP Racing) was a tenth away from a top ten finish as he finished in 11th place, ahead of Jose Luis Perez Gonzales (Accolade Smrz Racing) in 12th. Perez Gonzales was more than a second away from Mastroluca ahead of him, while he had a two tenths margin to Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo) in 13th.

Lennox Lehmann (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) had been in the front group but dropped back to 14th ahead of Troy Alberto (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) with the rookie rounding out the points-scoring positions.

Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha), winner in Race 1, also had to serve a double Long Lap Penalty for irresponsible riding, this time from the Warm Up session, and he finished in 16th place.

Alex Millan (SMW Racing) was 17th ahead of Daniel Mogeda (Team#109 Kawasaki) and his young Aussie team-mate Harry Khouri, while Marc Garcia (Yamaha MS Racing) was 20th; the results meaning he now trails Diaz by 40 points with two rounds remaining.

Harry Khouri – P19

“Disappointing weekend to say the least. We are still having some on going problems with engine power and performance, but we are doing our best to resolve these issues to have the best end to the season as possible.”

WorldSSP300 Race Two Results

WorldSSP300 Championship Points

2022 WorldSBK Calendar