Friday

A brilliant fifth place for Alcoba in Superpole at Magny-Cours

The track was dry but the skies cloudy as the ninth WorldSSP round got underway at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in France. On Friday morning, Jeremy Alcoba completed a free practice session that gave him an opportunity to start learning the French track, one he’s not visited before. With a time of 1’41”451, the Spaniard completed the practice in twenty-first place.

The afternoon’s Superpole established the grid positions for Race 1. Alcoba already looked confident around the Magny-Cours track and improved significantly on his best of the morning to achieve a brilliant fifth place (1’40”085).

Jeremy will therefore start from the second row of the grid for the weekend’s first race, which will run over a distance of 19 laps on Saturday afternoon.

Circuit of Nevers Magny-Cours – France
Supersport World Championship
Superpole: 1) Oncu (Yamaha) – 2) Manzi (Yamaha) – 3) Mahias (Yamaha) – Bendsneider (MV Agusta) – 5) Alcoba (Kawasaki)

Jeremy Alcoba: “Considering this is my first ever day at this track, I’m pleased with the result. Already yesterday, looking at the track, I thought it might be good for me and my bike. I didn’t push this morning and worked to understood how to adapt my riding style to this new track. Then, in the afternoon I made constant progress, before finishing fifth. I’m getting better with every exit and that’s very comforting, even if I haven’t had chance to test my pace over any distance considering the limited track time. I hope the weather remains stable and there’s no rain. A big thanks to the team, fantastic as always.”

Magny-Cours race weekend begins for Garrett Gerloff

Garrett Gerloff got his 2025 WorldSBK season underway again after the long summer break with two free practice sessions at a dry and eventually sunny 4.411km-long Magny Cours circuit in France.

After a strong start in FP1, when he was ranked seventh overall, Garrett and his crew expected to make even greater strides with his Ninja ZX-10RR in the second session in the afternoon.
Although Garrett improved his best lap time compared to FP1 in the afternoon FP2 session, he also experienced some issues under braking that caused him to lose positions on the timesheets. Garrett therefore ended his day 13th in the combined times, although just 1.285 seconds from the new track best set by Nicolo Bulega.

Now Garrett and his Kawasaki WorldSBK Team will look at the data they collected from Friday to find improvements for the final FP3 free practice session on Saturday, and then Superpole Qualifying on Saturday.

With all the riders’ grid positions set in by the results of that Superpole session, Race One – over 21 laps – will take place at a scheduled 14.00 local time, on Saturday 6 September.
Sunday will host a ten-lap Superpole ‘Sprint’ Race, plus a full-distance Race Two, which will round out the French weekend.

Garrett Gerloff: “I felt good this morning but then really struggled this afternoon. I have been having brake issues, for some reason, and I cannot ride like I want to. I have to find a solution for that for tomorrow. When the brakes are working it doesn’t feel too bad.”

Saturday

Top ten for Jeremy Alcoba in Race One at Magny-Cours

The ninth WorldSSP round continued today at the French circuit of Nevers Magny-Cours. In cool, sunny conditions, Jeremy Alcoba lined up for Race 1, which ran over 19 laps on Saturday afternoon.

Having finished a strong fifth in Friday’s Superpole, Jeremy started from the second row of the grid.

The race was one of two parts for Jeremy who made a good start and was able to move into the leading group early on. From around mid-race, he lost contact with that group and, fighting as part of the chasing pack, he crossed the line eighth, scoring useful points for the championship, where he currently places eighth with 115 points.

Alcoba will be back on track tomorrow for the weekend’s second and final race.

Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours – France
Supersport World Championship
Gara1: 1) Manzi (Yamaha) -2) Oncu (Yamaha) – 3) Surra (Yamaha) – 4) Mahias (Yamaha) – 5) Perolari (Honda) – 6) Booth-Amos (Triumph – 7) Farioli (MV Agusta) – 8) Alcoba (Kawasaki)

Jeremy Alcoba: “My first race at Magny Cours didn’t go as planned, but it was OK. I am quite happy with the result because it is our first time here, and we are the only Kawasaki team. We’re developing the bike and testing some new things. I expected more from myself honestly, because in the first part of the race we were up in the front group. I tried to stay there, but the riding style is completely different from the other bikes. And, I made some mistakes that I paid for later. The pace wasn’t enough for a top four finish, but we could have fought for top five. Tomorrow, we have another opportunity anyway, so we’ll work until late tonight to try and improve. Thanks everyone and see you tomorrow.”

Misfortune for Garrett Gerloff after showing good pace

Garrett Gerloff and his Kawasaki WorldSBK Team found some overnight set-up improvements to take into Race One at Magny-Cours, but Garrett was to fall from a strong seventh place and no-score.

After finding some issues under braking on day one, Gerloff’s Saturday bike set-up was strong enough for the American rider to take the ninth best time in FP3 in the morning. Having already secured a Superpole ‘win’ at Magny-Cours, when riding for another manufacturer, he was looking forward to a strong performance in Superpole.

Gerloff subsequently had the misfortune to crash early in the 15-minute qualifying session at the 4.411km-long Magny-Cours circuit, and had to start the 21-lap opening race from the eighth and last row of the grid.

He made up ground strongly through his own efforts, and he also benefitted from five top riders falling in two separate incidents at the same corner on lap two. Eleventh on Lap one, Garrett was up to tenth by lap four and seventh until lap 18.

He would fall after running a little wide but was able to get his machine going again for a short time, until he was forced to retire.

Garrett will have more chances to score points at Magny Cours, as Sunday will host the ten-lap Superpole ‘Sprint’ Race, plus a full-distance Race Two which will round out the on-track action at the French WorldSBK weekend.

Garrett Gerloff: “I am super-annoyed at myself and I am really sorry for the team. I crashed in Superpole Qualifying and didn’t set a time, so I had to start from last position on the grid. I actually had a decent race going, where I think I was in the top six at one time. Then, I went wide, touched the paint, and crashed again. I am annoyed, I want to say sorry to the team and we will try again tomorrow.”

Sunday

Best result of the season for Jeremy Alcoba with P4 at Magny-Cours

The ninth WorldSSP round has now concluded at the French circuit of Nevers Magny-Cours. Jeremy Alcoba completed Saturday’s hard-fought Race 1 in eighth place. Today, in warm and sunny conditions, the Spaniard was back out for Race 2, which he began from eleventh position thanks to the lap time he set in the first race.

Alcoba made a very fast start which saw him move straight into the front group. Jeremy oscillated between second and fifth position during the initial stages. As the race went on, the Spaniard lost contact with the leading pair, but remained very much in the mix for third, a position he ultimately missed out on by just a few tenths of a second. Alcoba nevertheless scored a very strong four place finish, his best result of the season so far.

The Kawasaki WorldSSP rider now lies seventh in the standings with 128 points.

The next WorldSSP round will take place on 26-28 September at Motorland Aragon in Spain.

Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours – France
Supersport World Championship
Race 2: 1) Manzi (Yamaha) -2) Oncu (Yamaha) – 3) Booth-Amos (Triumph) – 4) Alcoba (Kawasaki) – 5) Perolari (Honda) – 6) Jespersen (Ducati) – 7) Farioli (MV Agusta)

Jeremy Alcoba: “I am super-happy because I fought to the line for a podium place. I was struggling from half race distance after another rider crashed in front of me. I didn’t have the feeling and struggled with the front and rear tyres. I knew in that moment that I didn’t have the pace to ride alone. I was on the limit, so for me it was better to stick behind someone. The rider in front of me built a small gap but over the last five laps I started to close back in. I tried to pass him heading into the final corner, but it was impossible. We were close to the podium anyway, so the potential is there, and I will try my best to finish top three at the next race. A big thanks to the team for all their good work. See you all at my home race.”

Points in Race Two for Garrett Gerloff

Garrett Gerloff had to start both WorldSBK races on Sunday, 7 September at Magny-Cours from the very last row of the grid. Despite this issue, Gerloff was able to make progress in each competitive race, and ultimately score points for his 11th place finish in Race Two.

Having fallen early in the Superpole Qualifying session at the 4.411km-long Magny-Cours circuit on Saturday, Garrett had to start Race One, and today’s ten-lap Superpole race, from the very back of the grid.

In the ten-lap Superpole Race, he made great forward progress, but with only ten laps to work with – not the 21 laps of the full WorldSBK races – he ended up in 14th place.

The aim had been to get inside the top nine places in the Superpole ‘sprint’ race, as that would have vastly improved his starting position for the final full distance Race Two. As this was not possible, Garrett had to return to his original starting position at the very back of the grid and fight his way forward again.

He took his Ninja ZX-10RR to 11th place at the flag, having overtaken half the field in the 21-lap contest. For his efforts he was rewarded with his first championship points of the weekend.
In the overall rankings, after nine of 12 rounds, Garrett is now ranked 16th, with 72 points in all.

The next round of the WorldSBK Championship will take place in Spain, at the Motorland Aragon circuit between 26-28 September.

Garrett Gerloff: “I have to say sorry to the team again because this was definitely not the weekend I was hoping for. Today I was hoping to make some more progress in the Superpole Race, to try and be in the top nine for Race Two – but it was so tough. Andrea Locatelli and I started from the last row of the grid and we were basically together for the full race, and Race Two, making the same progress. The most I could do was 14th in the Superpole Race and 11th in Race Two. I am not super-happy but we can’t change it now. We will try again in Motorland Aragon and I just want to end the year with some better results.”