WSBK – Statements from World Superbike riders at Magny-Cours – Statements from the 1st WSBK round

Posted on by admin

Statements by World Superbike riders at Magny-Cours

WSBK - Statements from World Superbike riders at Magny-Cours - Statements from the 1st WSBK round

The eleventh round of the World SBK 2016 took place this weekend in Magny-Cours, France. To complete our near-live reports, here are the statements of the Superbike riders at the end of their two French races.

WSBK 1st Round Declarations

Site readers – who, as everyone knows, are a little more fortunate than others – have already been able to experience Saturday and Sunday, almost live, the unfolding of the Mondial Superbike and Supersport races on the Nevers Magny-Cours circuit. (for latecomers, read,, then).

Here are the statements of the drivers who distinguished themselves on Saturday during the first round, and on the following page the statements of those who led the second WSBK race on Sunday. Honor to the double winner !

WSBK - Statements from World Superbike riders at Magny-Cours - Statements from the 1st WSBK round

Chaz Davies, 1st:
I tried to select the tires intelligently because we haven’t always chosen the best strategy in these conditions in the past. However, this remained a kind of bet. I knew it would be about survival at first but the payoff could be great. I started by trying to stay on the bike because in some places I felt like I was riding on ice, but when I saw the gap with the outposts after a few laps, I realized that we could fill it. It was fun to come back up in the peloton. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be dry and we have a good chance, but we can still improve ".

WSBK - Statements from World Superbike riders at Magny-Cours - Statements from the 1st WSBK round

Michael van den Mark, 2nd:
What a mad race! The track started to dry out before the start of the race and that made the tire selection quite difficult. I decided to stay on wet tires after the sighting lap because I wasn’t sure the track would dry out enough to fit the intermediates. I got off to a good start and fought ahead in the first few laps, but couldn’t pick up any speed in the straights afterwards which was quite frustrating. I decided to calm down, wait a lap, then return to the pits to change tires. It turned out that it was the right decision and especially at the right time. In the end, it was Chaz who was perfect, congratulations to him on the victory. I’m very happy with my second place: it’s good to get back on the podium and consolidate my fourth place in the standings ".

WSBK - Statements from World Superbike riders at Magny-Cours - Statements from the 1st WSBK round

Tom Sykes, 3rd:
It was a really complicated race. Some riders have opted for intermediate tires and others for rain. I was one of those on real rain tires, because I wanted to be a little more serene during the first laps. Chaz chose the intermediaries, and he was rewarded at the end of the race. I think we had a good race, considering our pit stop. After this, it was really good to bring the opponents up. The lap times were very competitive compared to the other guys. We just ran out of time, but it’s racing ".

WSBK - Statements from World Superbike riders at Magny-Cours - Statements from the 1st WSBK round

(Tom Sykes, continued)
"I am happy to be on the podium in such difficult conditions, it could have been done in a completely different way. I hope we will ride in dry conditions tomorrow and we can improve the result. In totally conditions. wet we were good, ditto in dry conditions: we’re ready for either. It’s just that you can’t really make a perfect setting for "in between" conditions. Tomorrow we’re ready , whatever happens".

WSBK - Statements from World Superbike riders at Magny-Cours - Statements from the 1st WSBK round

Jonathan Rea, 4th:
It was a race for strategists today and unfortunately we didn’t make the right choice. The bike was running well and I was patient during the first part of the race. I was just tagging Tom. Our main rival at the moment is Tom, he was on wet tires and that greatly facilitated my current decision to return to the pits. I’m just a little disappointed as I clearly didn’t ask for slick tires during the pit stop. I wasn’t completely confident and thought the intermediate would last a lot longer as the track took a while to dry. Then I saw that he came out of the pits with slicks, and it was very hard to find the same grip on the angle. I’m happy overall because we finished fourth despite a few mistakes and didn’t lose too many points. As the championship leader, we had to take the safer option today, rather than the more aggressive ".

WSBK - Statements from World Superbike riders at Magny-Cours - Statements from the 1st WSBK round

Lorenzo Savadori, 5th:
It was a good race although I am not completely satisfied. A top five is always positive, only when you are first four laps from the end and then get passed by a lot of drivers, the feeling is not good. It was still a very difficult race because the conditions have changed a lot, the grip of the track has also changed a lot. But it was still a positive experience to run in these special conditions. I missed the wonderful feeling of crossing the finish line in first position. We hope that tomorrow the weather will be more stable, that it will be dry and not between two like today, so as to continue the work started on Friday with the team. I would like to thank the IodaRacing and Aprilia team for the work accomplished together ".

WSBK - Statements from World Superbike riders at Magny-Cours - Statements from the 1st WSBK round

Matthieu Lagrive, 6th:
The race started in very difficult conditions today, but I was determined to make the most of this important opportunity. I lost several positions at the start but it was necessary to be careful due to the track conditions. When I found myself behind Davies, I just tried to follow him because I was sure he was going to tow to the outposts, and that’s what happened. Finally in the last laps, I didn’t want to take too many risks because the front tire was starting to lose grip. I am very satisfied with this result, which is very important for me and for the Pedercini team ".

WSBK - Statements from World Superbike riders at Magny-Cours - Statements from the 1st WSBK round

Sylvain Guintoli, 9th:
It was a disappointing race. The feeling with the drying track was not good and it was difficult to keep up with the leading pack. We also lost a lot of time in the pit lane when changing tires. On the positive side, the pace at the end of the race was good and I managed to regain a few places, but not enough: I ran out of laps. We just didn’t have the pace to fight for the top spots today, but the weather will change tomorrow and hopefully that will be a different story. We are starting from fourth place on the grid, which is positive. We will see what will happen ".

WSBK - Statements from World Superbike riders at Magny-Cours - Statements from the 1st WSBK round

Related articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *