BMW MOTORRAD ITALIA SUPERBIKE TEAM - MAGNY COURS - RACE

At Magny Cours  Ayrton Badovini, failed to finish race one, but crossed the line in eighth place in race two.  Xavi Fores scored more championship points. The  Superstock riders scored a double podium: Zanetti finished in 2nd place and Barrier 3rd. 

Ayrton Badovini retired from race one with a technical problem on lap five, when he was lying in 13th place. In race two he started from the fourth row and made his way through the field, battling with other riders to finish in eighth place. The result ensures a top ten finish in the world championship.

Ayrton said: "The qualifying result definitely penalised me. We did not achieve what we were capable of. The fast laptimes show that we could have done much better. Putting that behind us, the second race was definitely better and I’m happier with that result.” 

Javier Fores rode another race in the first stages of his Superbike apprenticeship earning an 11th place. Repeating that position in the second race allowed him to gain more championship points. Magny Cours was a good step in his career at the highest level of bike racing. 

The  Superstock riders rode a spectacular race and fought throughout the race with Niccolò Canepa for the podium.  Lorenzo Zanetti had a good start and was able to slot into the lead group and battle with team-mate  Sylvain Barrier and the Ducati rider. At the flag, Lorenzo finished in second place allowing him to maintain contact with Danilo Petrucci, the rider ahead in the  FIM Cup standings, in spite of the blows received from falls at Imola and Magny Cours. Sylvain was able to stand on the podium in front of his audience . 

Zanetti: "It has been a difficult weekend. In the last few races we tried some different techniques that haven’t given positive results on track. Here we had to work really hard even though I had a great feel for the track. I made a good start, kept with Canepa and Petrucci and carried on pushing. All in all today has been a morale boost. Now I know we can do well in the future. " 

Barrier: "The fall at Imola has left me sore and the two at Magny Cours have exacerbated things. I thank the mechanics who were very good at rebuilding the bike twice here. This is a track that I know and knew I could do well. " 

Serafino Foti, sporting director of BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike Team commented on the day of competition the French: "Our grid position did not help us. In fact, from the first lap Ayrton was putting a lot of stress on the tyres. In Race 1 he had a technical problem unfortunately, that forced him to retire. We did better in race two, making the top ten.Fores has completed two more races, increasing his pace since his first event. I'm sure he will make another step forward in Portimao.The Superstock race was a good result for us – even though we didn’t win – we had both riders on the podium. Unfortunately, we can no longer win the championship but I want to compliment the Ducati and Davide Giugliano, as they have earned this success.

Superbike: Race 1: 1° C. Checa (Ducati) 38'16.465 - 2° M. Melandri (Yamaha) + 2.201 - 3° L. Haslam (BMW) + 3.218... 11°  J. Fores (BMW) + 34.532

Race 2: 1° C. Checa (Ducati) 38'17"851 - 2° M. Melandri (Yamaha) + 1.267 - 3° E. Laverty (Yamaha) + 2.043...8°  A. Badovini (BMW) + 15.549...11°  J. Fores (BMW) + 43.132

Standings: 1° C. Checa (Ducati) p. 467 -  2° M. Melandri (Yamaha) p. 360 - 3° E. Laverty (Yamaha) p. 283 - ...9°  A. Badovini (BMW) p. 155 ...22°  J. Toseland (BMW) p. 13 - 23°  J. Fores (BMW) p. 12 - 24°  L. Lanzi (BMW) p. 10....29° B. Veneman (BMW) p. 3

Superstock: Race: 1° D. Petrucci (Ducati) 23'48.111 - 2°  L. Zanetti (BMW) + 2.734 - 3°  S. Barrier (BMW) + 2.801 - 4° N. Canepa (Ducati) + 2.997 - 5° D. Giugliano (Ducati) + 11.455.

FIM Cup: 1° D. Giugliano (Ducati) p. 171 - 2° D. Petrucci (Ducati) p. 144 - 3°  L. Zanetti (BMW)  p. 137 - 4°  S. Barrier (BMW)  p. 112 - 5° N. Canepa (Ducati) p. 109.