The seventh round of the Superbike World Championship has concluded at the Nevers Magny Cours Circuit in France today. A home round for Frenchman Lucas Mahias, competing for Kawasaki Puccetti Racing, whose Ninja bore a special livery dedicated to historic sponsor GiVi, which has long supported Manuel Puccetti’s team.
Yesterday, Mahias took part in Superpole and Race 1. In the first, he qualified eleventh, which meant he started Race 1 from the fourth row of the grid. He concluded the race in tenth place, despite riding for most of the time without his right knee slider, which was ripped off following contact with another rider in the early stages.
Today’s action played out in cool, sunny conditions, with Lucas out on track this morning for the Superpole Race, a short ten-lap sprint in which he finished fourteenth.
The day’s second and final race ran over a distance of 21 laps. Mahias started strong and maintained very good pace within the chasing group, before crossing the line twelfth.
He next WorldSBK round will take place at Barcelona in Spain from 23 to 25 September.
Nevers Magny Cours Circuit – France – Superbike World Championship
Superpole Race: 1) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 2) Bautista (Ducati) – 3) Rea (Kawasaki) – 4) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 5) Redding (BMW) – 6) Bassani (Ducati) ……14) Mahias (Kawasaki)
Race 2: 1) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 2) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 3) Bassani (Ducati) – 4) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 5) Rea (Kawasaki) – 6) Redding (BMW) ……… 12) Mahias (Kawasaki)
Lucas Mahias
“It was a positive day all things considered, the whole weekend in fact, as we continued along the growth path we’ve set out. We’re consistently inside the points zone and ever closer to the top ten. We still have to work to try and reduce the gap to those ahead of us, but we’re definitely on the right path. Racing in front of my fans has been a wonderful experience and I thank them as well as my team and our sponsors.”
