Conditions were cool and wet at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in France today as the eighth WorldSBK round continues.
Yesterday saw Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider Tito Rabat complete two practice sessions, in which he placed nineteenth with a time of 1’37”720, while this morning the Spaniard was back out for the Superpole, which ran in the rain and established the grid positions for Race 1.
It was an unfortunately qualifying for Tito, who was betrayed by the slippery track and crashed, closing twenty-first.
With this result, he lined up on row seven of the grid for the afternoon’s first race. Making a fast start, Rabat was up to sixteenth within the first three laps but then crashed during the course of lap four and was forced to retire.
Tomorrow Rabat will compete in the Superpole Race and Race 2.
Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours – France
Superbike World Championship
Superpole: Superpole: 1) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 2) Bulega (Ducati) – 3) Redding (BMW) – 4) Gerloff (BMW) – 5) Van der Mark (BMW) – 6) Vierge (Honda) ……… 21) Rabat (Kawasaki)
Race 1 – 1) Van der Mark (BMW) – 2) Bautista (Ducati) – 3) Petrucci (Ducati) – 4) Redding (BMW) – 5) Iannone (Ducati) – 6) Lecuona (Honda) ………. DNF Rabat (Kawasaki)
Tito Rabat
“Today was very challenging due to the weather conditions, with rain making the track very slippery. We haven’t found an ideal set-up in the wet and I struggled in both Superpole and the race, where I crashed while making up positions. We’ll try to make up for this in tomorrow’s races. Thanks to the team for all their precious support.”
