Qualifying

Stefano Manzi qualified in fifth position for the first World Supersport race at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours on Friday afternoon. The Italian was just 0.185 seconds off pole position but will still have to start from the second row. Glenn van Straalen will start the first WorldSSP on Saturday afternoon from 11^th on the grid.

Under overcast conditions, the French World Superbike round began on Friday at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. Despite it being four weeks since Stefano Manzi and Glenn van Straalen last rode their Yamaha YZF-R6 Supersport machines, they came out swinging straight away. Manzi rode the fastest time in free practice and Van Straalen finished in tenth position.

In the afternoon it was time for the 40-minute Superpole session which, like the free practice in the morning, was interrupted by a red flag. For a long time, it looked like Manzi could secure a place on the front row of the grid but in the closing stages he was relegated to fifth. The Italian was only 0.185 seconds short of pole position which shows that the gaps in the World Supersport class are minimal.

Van Straalen also started the Superpole session strongly and consistently showed himself in the top ten. The Dutchman finally finished the session with the 11^th time which allows him to start from the middle of the fourth on Saturday afternoon.

Stefano Manzi – P5:“It was not a bad day but it also wasn’t great. We started well this morning in the free practice session, and also our lap time in Superpole wasn’t too bad. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough for pole position or a place on the front row, even though we are only missing a tenth of a second. We will see what we can do from P5 on the grid, at least we will need to have a better starting position for the second race. Let’s see what’s possible.”

Glenn van Straalen – P11:“We took a slightly different approach to the Superpole session today compared to what we did before. In terms of feeling it was very positive and we rode a good session, in terms of position we unfortunately didn’t improve that much compared to the previous sessions. Anyway, I think we have laid a very good foundation for tomorrow’s first race and that we’ll be able to get towards the front during the race. It remains to be seen if it stays dry but we will see tomorrow.”

Kervin Bos – Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing team manager:“It was a good first day for Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing at Magny-Cours. Stefano had found his pace straight away in free practice and in the afternoon in the Superpole session he was again very fast. The differences are so incredibly small in the World Supersport class that a few hundredths of a second are also immediately costing you several positions. Anyway, we go into the race with confidence, he has shown that the speed is definitely there.

On the other side of the pitbox, Glenn also started the race weekend in France very well. We might have hoped for something more than the 11^thposition but the speed he showed during the day is very encouraging. I expect him to be able to achieve another great result tomorrow, just like he did in the past race weekends.”

Race One postponed due to the weather

The first World Supersport race at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, scheduled for Saturday afternoon, has been postponed to Sunday morning. The weather conditions at the French circuit were poor all day but worsened during the afternoon.

During the warm-up lap, the red flag was waved as it was raining hard and there was too much standing water on the track. This Race 1 was postponed and will be run Sunday morning instead of the warm-up session, the race distance is 12 laps. Race 2 will be run as scheduled at 14:00 over the full distance of 19 laps.

Races One and Two

Glenn van Straalen and Stefano Manzi both finished on the podium in the World Supersport class at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours on Sunday. The Dutchman crossed the line in third place in Race 1 which was run in the morning while Manzi crashed in that race. In the afternoon, the Italian was second with Van Straalen behind him in sixth place.

After the first World Supersport race was cancelled on Saturday afternoon due to heavy rain, it was scheduled on Sunday morning instead of the warm up session. The race was run over a reduced distance of 12 laps where, despite bright sunshine, the track had still not completely dried up. Nevertheless, Glenn van Straalen and Stefano Manzi both took to the track with slicks.

This worked out very well for the Dutchman, who was able to fight at the front for victory. He eventually crossed the finish line in third place, giving him his second podium finish of the season. Unfortunately for Manzi, the race would come to an end on the third lap due to a crash.

In the afternoon, the race was run over the full distance of nineteen laps and now the track was almost completely dry. Starting eleventh on the grid, Manzi had to work hard to get to the front but by the fourth lap he had already arrived in the top three. The Italian was in a fierce battle for victory before eventually crossing the finish line in second place by just 0.171 seconds. It is already his eleventh podium finish in 16 races.

Starting from fourth on the grid, Van Straalen was also able to show himself at the front in the early stages of the race but in the end, he just couldn’t keep up with the pace of the leading group. With a creditable sixth place, the Dutchman ended a challenging weekend very positively.

Stefano Manzi – DNF & P2: “The crash in the morning was a big shame. I was leading the group of riders who were on slicks and I was riding a normal pace, not doing anything crazy. I had another rider in front of me on rain tyres who made me miss a wet patch, as a result I crashed. That was very disappointing. It also meant that I had to start from P11 in Race 2 but in the end I came closest to the win since Barcelona. We are on the podium in more or less every race but we cannot really fight for the victory, today we did so I’m happy about that. I hope we can continue like this.”

Glenn van Straalen – P3 & P6: “This morning it was a tough race but fortunately we had made the right choice with slicks. The race came to us because of that so it was a matter of staying calm. We got a nice third place and I’m very happy with that. For Race 2, we had a good position on the grid and we started strongly, unfortunately we just missed the pace a bit to compete at the front again. In the end, I’m happy with sixth place and we can look back on a great Sunday. I’m already looking forward to the next race weekend in Cremona.”

Kervin Bos – Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing team manager: “We had an excellent weekend with Glenn on the podium in Race 1 and a very strong performance in Race 2. Stefano unfortunately made a small mistake in Race 1 causing him to crash, he wanted a little too much too early in the race. In Race 2, Stefano came back very strongly and showed why he is a title contender. With his knife between his teeth, he fought until the last few metres and was able to take the fight to the Ducati’s. Overall, we did very well with these results on a day with two races. Stefano could have done a little better in Race 1 but Glenn once again had his best weekend of the season. He has shown a lot of progression from Donington Park onwards. The team did a very good job and as a result we also scored well for the team championship. Before the weekend, we said the momentum is going our way and it looks like it is. We need to keep this going at this important stage of the season, I think the whole team is looking forward to being back on the grid in two weeks’ time.”