Haslam in top 5 battle until a last lap crash, Bautista improves his pace at wet Magny-Cours

The first Superbike race making up the seventh WorldSBK championship round ran today at Magny-Cours in full wet conditions, quite a regular occurrence at the French circuit in recent years. Team HRC rider Leon Haslam did well to interpret the challenging conditions, demonstrating a podium-worthy race pace that saw him climb from eleventh on the grid to sixth and battling for fifth with Toprak Razgatlıoğlu before he crashed out through the final sector of the very last lap. Teammate Alvaro Bautista struggled more in the cold, wet conditions but was also able to make some steps forward during the race, which he concluded in twelfth position.

Following on from a wet third practice, the rain held off for the Superpole session but the track was nevertheless still wet enough to merit the use of rain tyres. During the 25-minute phase, which determines grid positions for Superbike race 1 and the Superpole race, Haslam set a best of 1’50.319 in the final stages to close eleventh and secure a place on the fourth row of the starting grid. Bautista, still working with his team to identify the best set-up for the tricky conditions in France, closed in seventeenth place with a time of 1’51.614.

The weekend’s first race got underway as scheduled at 2pm, in full wet conditions. Soon gaining confidence, Haslam was lying eighth by lap four. Pushing to move in on Razgatlioğlu immediately ahead of him, Haslam passed the Turk on lap nine. Maintaining a rhythm that was in line with the fastest riders, Leon continued to battle with the Turkish rider through the final stages but unfortunately fell victim to a highside on the very last lap, at turn 12, as he attempted to re-pass Toprak for fifth place. Haslam is fortunately unhurt and will be able to compete in tomorrow’s two races.

Bautista made a strong start and moved up three places through the opening stages to position fourteenth. Doing his best to maintain a consistent pace and not make any mistakes, Alvaro set his fastest lap times in the second half of the race and eventually crossed the line in twelfth place.