11-13 France – Magny-Cours – Statements from World Superbike riders at Magny-Cours – #FrenchWorldSBK: statements from the 1st round

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Statements by World Superbike riders at Magny-Cours

The eleventh round of the World SBK 2017 took place this weekend at Magny-Cours (France). To complete our almost live reports, here are the statements of the Superbike riders at the end of their two French races..

#FrenchWorldSBK: statements from the 1st round

Site readers – who, as everyone knows, are a little more fortunate than the others – have already been able to follow Saturday and Sunday, almost live, the progress of the Mondial Superbike and Supersport races on the Magny-Cours circuit ( 58). For latecomers:

Below are the statements of the drivers who distinguished themselves on Saturday during the first round, and the statements of those who animated the second WSBK race on Sunday. Honor to the winner and triple world champion !

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki n ° 1), 1st and 2017 world champion

“I have no words yet. I have made so many sacrifices in my life, so have my parents, and everyone else who has helped me reach this level. To win the championship once, once. second, then third time in a row: I can’t handle my feelings at the moment. I thank the whole team, every member of the team, and everyone at Kawasaki in Japan. I want most of all to thank my wife and children who are totally dedicated to me. This victory was special. I had never won a championship by winning a race, so it was important for me to achieve it. This is also my 50th victory in WorldSBK ".

Marco Melandri (Ducati n ° 33), 2nd

"It was a fantastic race. At the start the conditions were difficult because the grip was very weak. Over time I gained confidence and started to attack harder and harder. When I saw that Sykes was in a bit of a bad shape, I realized I could push even harder because we didn’t have to worry about the tires and no one was going into the pits to change them. We had a pleasant battle in the last two laps I gave my all to close the gap and honestly we couldn’t have done more today. Hope we have a dry race tomorrow because it’s so easy to making mistakes here. We haven’t done a lot of laps in the dry so far, but everyone would be in the same boat and we are good to go. ".

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki n ° 66), 3rd

"Considering my injury (to my hand contracted in Portimao, editor’s note)), I’m happy to be here, podium or not. At times, I struggled with the grip on the corner because of the track conditions , while Marco Melandri had a good grip towards the end. We had a "touch" in turn 3 when our paths crossed, during our battle for second place. I finished third today, but if someone gave me this kind of result two weeks ago, I would have taken it.I have a hard time putting on my socks in the morning so I was not sure how to ride the bike! Thank you. to Kawasaki for allowing me to run and for making my job easier ".

Leon Camier (MV Agusta n ° 2), 4th

"I’m obviously happy with this result, but I’m a little frustrated not to be on the podium. The bike worked well today and what we have to do now is continue to work on the settings. to make it even faster. We know exactly what we have to do, we just have to find the way. I hope we can find a better setting tomorrow and fight for the podium again. ".

Alex Lowes (Yamaha No.22), 5th

“It was a strange race! The track was getting drier and drier, it was very tricky. I always struggled in the wet at Magny-Cours, so I’m very happy to finish fifth. had a great battle with my teammate and a few riders at the start, then it got a bit lonely towards the end. But in the wet it can be more difficult than wrestling in a group, so I concentrated to be as consistent as possible. I hope the sun will be out for tomorrow’s race, but whatever happens, I will be ready to give everything from the front row! "

Eugene Laverty (Aprilia n ° 50), 6th

“The Superpole was really tough. I just didn’t have any grip in the back and that’s what caused my crash, and we couldn’t remember much. The start of the race was catastrophic, it was like riding on ice because the tires weren’t working. When the track was completely wet, I had no grip in the rear and the bike was so hard to ride. Halfway through the race, the The track started to dry out and the rest went much better. I was able to find grip and move forward. I made some good maneuvers along the way. We will know what to do in the wet tomorrow, and in the dry too. We know where to go with the bike. We have to get that ‘strain’ on the rear tire, which should make a big difference. I know we can do better in the second run. ".

Leandro Mercado (Aprilia n ° 36), 7th

“This morning, I felt very comfortable in the wet. I had a good feeling with my bike. I turned well in Superpole 1, which opened the doors to Superpole2. During the second qualifying session. , there was a lot more water and the conditions were more difficult than in SP1. I felt good despite the rain, and I tried to attack hard on the last lap, eventually getting second place on the grid. I expected more in the race, I couldn’t attack the way I wanted, but seventh is not that bad for us. ".

Davide Giugliano (Honda n ° 34), 8th

“It was a positive race. We maintained a good pace throughout the 21 laps and we were able to improve until under the checkered flag. It was the first time I rode the bike more than a few laps in wet conditions, so I had some things to understand before I started pushing harder. The team did a great job interpreting my feedback and the data, they made appropriate changes to the settings of the bike. Obviously, there is still room for improvement, but for a first race in the wet, I would say it’s not bad at all! "

Michael van der Mark (Yamaha No.60), 9th

“We had a problem in SP2, so I couldn’t go as fast as I would have liked, and I had to start from tenth place on the grid. Luckily, we discovered the origin of the concern and got off to a good start in the race. I passed a few guys right away, but I was struggling out of the corners, the rear was slipping too much. I thought it was because the tires needed to heat up , but even after 3 laps it still was. I got a little too aggressive in the hairpin and lost the rear. It was only a small crash luckily, the bike was in good condition, but I ended up last! I had a good feeling with the bike but with the glides of the back, I could not go fast. I had to fight from 19th place and I got back up lap after lap catching up with a lot of people so I’m happy to finish ninth despite the incident. We just need to improve the set-up because I feel really good. t good, but I can’t make up for the time lost out of corners. I hope it will be dry tomorrow: I will start from the second row, and besides, I was fast in the dry Friday. It will be a challenge for everyone as no one has really done a long ride, but I can’t wait to run the second run, whether it’s wet or dry! "

Chaz Davies (Ducati n ° 7), 10th

“We got off to a good start and the bike performed well early in the race, but after three laps it had a problem and it became difficult to control. It started blocking from behind and skating a lot. acceleration. We’re going to look at that … All we could do was try to reach the checkered flag so I’m a little disappointed. Yesterday in the dry we were making good progress. pace was not the best, but we were still competitive. We hope that the warm-up will be dry too, as we want to check one last step in the setup. I’m pretty confident in the direction taken, so I ‘hope we can bounce back from a solid result in the second round ".

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