WSBK – Kenny Foray in the big leagues! –

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Kenny Foray in the big leagues !

WSBK - Kenny Foray in the big leagues! -

A few days after the interview with Site, the new French Supersport Champion, Kenny Foray, receives a call: the Intermoto Czech team offers him to replace Matt Lagrive for the Magny-Cours final. ! Story of a great adventure.

The misfortune of some makes the happiness of others? This is what one might think in the case of Lagrive – Foray: the first is deprived of its national race, for a matter of settlement and here is the second propelled onto the international scene !

For Kenny Foray, the challenge is twofold: to show his worth to all observers of the SSP World Cup and in addition to score points during the event! Because his team is seeking tenth place overall, synonymous with financial assistance from the organizer…

Added to this is the discovery of a Honda 600 CBR with behavior very different from his 675 Triumph, with which he usually races and we can understand that the 22-year-old driver was not very comfortable the day before. of the race !

Site: Hi, Kenny. You hid your participation in Magny-Cours from us during our interview at the Mondial de la Moto ?! (read)
Kenny Foray: I didn’t find out until the Wednesday after! This is a great opportunity that comes at the expense of Matthew…
Because, in World SSP you have four training circuits: on them you can ride when you want and even just before a race on the calendar. On the other hand, if you drive on a circuit which is not designated by your team for training, you have a period of one month without being able to participate in an SBK / SSP race: Matthieu having participated in the Bol d’Or and Magny -Course not being a training circuit of the Czech team, it was refused the right to participate in the Supersport race. Conversely, Max Neukirchner, the GMT riders and Guillaume Dietrich did not experience this settlement concern since Magny-Cours was one of the four test tracks chosen by their team.

MNC: How was your first qualifying session in a world championship? The transition from your 3-cylinder Triumph to the Honda was not too delicate ?
K.F. : I qualified 24th out of 32: it’s far, but I’m only two seconds from the pole! Regarding the Honda, I would say that in terms of the chassis, there is no problem, it is a very good bike.The only thing I have trouble getting used to is driving: everything is high in the towers and that’s my weak point. I have a tendency to let the engine speed go down too much and I stay "stuck". What is more, it is difficult to define a good gearbox staging: the first is too short and the second too long! My team-mate (Mauro Sanchini Editor’s note) and I both suffer from it. In particular in two bends: the 180 ° and the Château d’Eau and as these bends define two straight lines…

MNC: What are your goals for tomorrow’s race? You have developed a strategy with your team ?
K.F. : I know it will be difficult, but I would like to get into the points: in qualifying I was only 7 tenths from the points. Everything is possible and the team needs to score 4 points to take tenth place overall: which means there is a challenge! I have to get off to a good start and adopt a good pace, because the race is long: 24 turns. As soon as the "holes" form between the drivers, it’s hard to come back. Despite everything, I have high hopes because even though I’m far on the grid, I’m not that far on the clock. What’s more, with the team, we focused during practice on accumulating experience and laps, while many drivers focused on setting lap times, even if it means having to wait to pick up a wheel….

MNC: "Take a wheel" to make a great stopwatch: a common practice in the world to which you are not used with the French championship ?
K.F. : No and on top of that it gives me the impression of wasting my time! It’s true that I don’t usually do that: on the track you see some who stop on the side to "wait for a wheel"! However, I know that if I had concentrated on chasing the clock and had followed a good driver, who would have shown me the lines, the pace etc, I could have won about 5 tenths.

MNC: Are you surprised at the difference in level between the two categories? ?
K.F. : No, because I expected it. Ultimately, I even thought I would take more than two seconds per lap! In addition, I know that I will be able to ride a little faster, because I have done all my time on my own, discovering the bike and yet I have improved in all the sessions.

The next day in the race, Kenny had a good performance: author of a good start, he found himself 19th and clung to a good group. After climbing back to 13th place, there was some heat which forced him to give up his hand. Kenny finished fourteenth and took two points for Team Czech, while his team-mate was forced to retire.

Mission accomplished, for the young Parisian, who received warm congratulations from his team on arrival. This same team which will make Matthieu Lagrive ride next year, but on Yamaha R6s, close to the development of official motorcycles: good news for the Frenchman who will also join C. Guyot’s team for the endurance events. French.

What about Kenny Foray? The Carracchi team must still make him carry out tests with the 675 Daytona, in order to see if it is possible to integrate it into the structure they are developing in WSSP: however, with his Nivernaise race, the n ° 78 has already demonstrated great potential… To be continued, on Site obviously !

Interview by Alexandre BARDIN

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