WSBK Magny-Cours (Sprint): Bautista “unfit” after fall

Ducati factory rider Nicolo Bulega won the Superpole race at the Superbike World Championship in Magny-Cours. The Italian narrowly won a duel with Kawasaki rider Alex Lowes and crossed the finish line with a lead of 0.115 seconds. Danilo Petrucci (Barni-Ducati) completed the top 3.

World champion Alvaro Bautista (Ducati) was eliminated after a fall on the first lap. Examinations after the race revealed a fracture in his left rib cage. The defending champion missed the rest of Sunday.

Alex Lowes started the sprint race from pole and shared the first row with Nicolo Bulega and Scott Redding (Bonovo-BMW). In addition to Toprak Razgatlioglu (BMW), Jonathan Rea (Yamaha) was also missing. After the crash in the first race, Rea was classified as “unfit” (why the record champion could not take part).

The track had mostly dried out at the start of the sprint race, but there were still some wet patches. The air temperature was 20°C, the asphalt had warmed up to 24°C. All drivers used dry tyres. The SCQ and SCX options were the two softest compounds used.

Alex Lowes maintained the lead after the start, but lost it to Nicolo Bulega on lap one. Michael van der Mark (BMW) moved into third position and put Alex Lowes under a lot of pressure at the start of the race.

Crash in the first round: Alvaro Bautista in the medical center

Alvaro Bautista, who started the race from 16th place after a botched qualifying, crashed on lap one and appeared dazed after his crash. The Spaniard skidded off turn 7 at high speed after misjudging his braking.

After a while, Bautista was able to leave the scene of the accident under his own power and was taken to the medical center by ambulance. Ducati teammate Nicolo Bulega maintained the lead. Behind him, Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark dueled and changed positions several times.

Shortly before the halfway point of the race, Danilo Petrucci (Barni-Ducati) and Andrea Locatelli (Yamaha) collided while battling for fifth position. Petrucci braked to catch up with Locatelli in the hairpin and caused his compatriot to fall. The incident was investigated. For Locatelli, the race ended prematurely.

Nicolo Bulega and Alex Lowes duel for victory

At the start of the second half of the race, Alex Lowes picked up the pace and increased the pressure on Nicolo Bulega, who was still in the lead. Michael van der Mark had already lost ground and was battling with Honda rider Xavi Vierge for the last place on the podium. Danilo Petrucci and Scott Redding were also within striking distance of Van der Mark.

Redding qualified from the duel between Petrucci and Vierge and temporarily moved up to fourth position. But the final word had not yet been spoken in the chasing group.

It was also close at the front. Three laps before the end of the race, Lowes briefly took the lead in turn 5, but Bulega countered on the way to turn 7. On the penultimate lap, Lowes tried turn 13, but Bulega had another answer ready. The last lap had to bring the decision.

Bulega defended the lead and secured his first sprint win. It was Bulega's second WSBK race win. Lowes was unable to launch any attacks on the final lap and settled for second place. After the race, Lowes confirmed that it was very risky to launch a maneuver on the bottom of the wet patches.

In the chasing group, Petrucci prevailed and kept his position because the authorities did not impose a penalty for the maneuver against Locatelli. Petrucci apologized to Locatelli in the Parc Ferme.

Saturday’s winner Michael van der Mark is relegated to P8

Scott Redding narrowly missed the sprint podium in fourth place. Xavi Vierge gave Honda a top-five result, but had to let go on the last lap. Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo-BMW) finished the race in sixth position. The two Bonovo drivers thus made it into the top six and secured a very good team result.

Iker Lecuona (Honda) finished the sprint in seventh position. Michael van der Mark dropped back to eighth position and was almost eight seconds behind when he crossed the finish line. The last point went to Remy Gardner (GRT-Yamaha), the best-placed Yamaha rider.

Axel Bassani (Kawasaki) and Andrea Iannone (GoEleven-Ducati) came away empty-handed and missed the chance to secure a good starting position for race two. Philipp Öttl (GMT94-Yamaha) showed a good race with P14.

The second main race of the Superbike World Championship in Magny-Cours will start at 3:30 p.m.