Michael van der Mark won FIM Superbike World Championship Race One Saturday at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, in France. Riding his ROKiT BMW Motorrad M 1000 RR on Pirelli rain tires, the Dutchman won the wet 21-lap race by over eight seconds.
Two-time and defending Champion Alvaro Bautista was the runner-up on his Aruba.it Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R.
Danilo Petrucci placed third on his Barni Spark Racing Team Ducati.
American Garrett Gerloff was one of the many riders who crashed during the race, but he was able to remount his Bonovo Action BMW and salvage 12th.
With World Championship point leader Toprak Razgatlioglu sitting out due to injuries suffered in a crash on Friday, Bautista’s teammate Nicolo Bulega missed a golden opportunity to gain ground in the point standing when he crashed out of the race.
After Race One, Razgatlioglu retained his 92-point lead over Bulega.
Following the race, weather conditions continued to deteriorate to the point where officials decided to postpone World Supersport Race One until Sunday morning.
WSBK R1
WSBK pOints after R1
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Emotional win for van der Mark
Tissot Superpole Highlights
With rain falling throughout the fifteen minute Tissot Superpole session Alex Lowes took his first pole position for Kawasaki. It was a dominant performance to set the pace by a margin of 0.772s
Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was one of many riders who crashed in the wet conditions. The Italian hit the deck at Turn 5 but not before setting his fastest time in the session. The Ducati rider started from second position on the grid
Scott Redding (Bonovo Action BMW) qualified on the front row of the grid for the second time this season. Redding led a trio of BMW M 1000 RR’s inside the top five on the grid with Garrett Gerloff and Michael van der Mark enjoying strong performances for the German manufacturer
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) qualified on the sixth row of the grid in 17th position
Race 1 Highlights
Starting from the second row of the grid Michael van der Mark was able to win for the first time since the 2021 Portuguese Round. It was an emotional day for the Dutchman who has suffered a series of serious injuries in recent years but he kept a clear head in treacherous as the conditions changed from dry to wet during the early stages of the 21 lap race
Starting from the sixth row of the grid Alvaro Bautista made his way through the field and was the first rider to dive into pitlane to change from slick tyres to wet rubber. The decision proved critical for the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider as he was able to finish in second position. The 20 points now leave him 30 points behind his teammate Nicolo Bulega in the standings
From the front row of the grid Bulega was one of the only leading riders to start the race on intermediate tyres. The decision left him vulnerable to attack in the early laps and the Italian crashed at the final corner on the opening lap of the race. Bulega sustained right shoulder and collarbone contusions, and will be further assessed before Warm Up on Sunday morning.
Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) was the final rider on the podium with the Italian coming through from tenth on the grid. Petrucci now sits fifth in the championship standings
It was an incident filled race with pole sitter, Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) crashing out of the lead on Lap 11 while battling with van der Mark. The Englishman will start tomorrow’s Tissot Superpole Race on pole position having eventually retired from the race due to damage to his machine
Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) also crashed out of the lead. The American started the race on intermediate tyres but as conditions deteriorated he crashed on Lap 7
Key Points:
Pole position: Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
Race 1 winner: Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
More on worldsbk.com
P1 | Michael van der Mark | ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team
“Honest, this feels unbelievable! It’s been a tough couple of years, but this year everything has been getting better and better. I wanted to be on the podium so to win is fantastic. We agreed with the team that as soon as it started to rain, I would come into the pits, but I was behind Alex and we stayed out for one more lap. I think I should have come in earlier because it was very, very tricky on that last lap on slicks. But that’s what flag to flag racing is all about. It was a nice race but it was tough. The conditions were awful but it’s amazing to win this race.”
P2 | Alvaro Bautista | Aruba.it Racing – Ducati
“I didn’t have a great feeling in the wet for the Superpole session and I’m not sure why. We used a full wet setup but I couldn’t find grip. During the Race, I was the first rider to pit, and I think it was the right choice. My team did an incredible job in the pits but after that I was riding in the wet with a dry setup. At the end of the race I was watching the gap to van der Mark and I just focused on my race. I also noticed the gap with the rider behind me was increasing. To finish in second having started from 17th is a great result.”
P3 | Danilo Petrucci | Barni Spark Racing Team
“It wasn’t easy because I don’t have much experience of the wet Pirelli tires. I had confidence in qualifying, but I crashed after 7 laps. After that I understood I needed to stay calm today. It was tough because the weather forecast said it would rain but we didn’t know when. We started with slicks and I tried to stay out on the slick tyres but it was pouring down. We need to find a better setup for the rain because the bike was sliding a lot. I tried to stay with Alvaro, but it wasn’t possible. In the end the goal today was to stay upright and it’s always good to stand on the podium.”
