Round 08 #FRAWorldSbk
SUPERPOLE & RACE 2

Alvaro Bautista concludes a solid weekend in terms of both results and performance, completing the day’s races in sixth and seventh place and proving competitive throughout all sessions.

Team HRC has wrapped up round eight of the Superbike World Championship at the Magny-Cours circuit in France. First up this morning was the 10-lap Tissot Superpole race.
Alvaro made a very rapid start despite being at a disadvantage from fourteenth on the grid, the Spaniard already up into ninth by the end of lap one. The Spaniard was able to pass his team mate on lap eight, to finish the race in seventh place.

The results of the Superpole race meant that Alvaro secured new grid position for the last of the weekend’s races, lining up in seventh place for a race that took place in dry and sunny conditions.
Bautista was tenth by the end of lap one. Setting his fastest lap of the race on lap ten, Alvaro gained ground through the central phase of the race, passing both Van der Mark and Rinaldi to move up into sixth place, a position he held to the line to secure more important championship points.

In the championship standings, Bautista lies tenth with 115 points.

Team HRC will now prepare for the next Superbike World Championship round, which will take place over the weekend of 17-19 September at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit in Spain.

Alvaro Bautista #19  

SPRC P7 –  RC2 P6

“I’m generally happy with our weekend here at Magny-Cours. Today we made some modifications to the bike’s setup, especially the electronics, nothing huge but we saw a little improvement, which gave me more confidence. I felt a bit better with the bike and so in the Superpole race, where I normally struggle more, I was able to be competitive and make a good comeback from fourteenth on the grid in just ten laps. And my seventh-place finish allowed me to move forward two rows on the grid for race 2. In the afternoon’s higher temperatures, the track conditions were more tricky, more slippery. But the feeling was still better than it sometimes has been in similar conditions. I made a good start but then I chose the wrong line at the first braking point and lost some positions. I recovered again and was able to maintain a consistent pace, finishing sixth, which is the most I think we could do at the moment. Now we head to tracks that I really like, so we will keep working and see what we can do there“.