Organized by the ASM 24 Heures ACO under the aegis of the FFM, the first stage of the French Superbike Championship took place under cloudy and threatening skies. The first exercises of the season made it possible to draw an initial assessment of the men to follow during the Sunday races.
SUPERBIKES
TIMED TESTS 1: PAID STRATEGY FOR BERCHET
Given the many drivers present this weekend, the first places are expensive and we will have to let go of the horses to place ourselves in the leading group.
The show is provided by a supercharged Morgan BERCHET (Yamaha) who knew how to set off at the best moment, at the very end of the session, to set a reference time of 1'47''718. He then accentuates his domination and drives home the point the following lap to take pole position in 1'46''904. The rider of the Yamaha no. 63 and Team PMR knew how to make the most of their strategy.
Erwan NIGON (Honda) returns to business after a title acquired in 2010, he quickly stands out by running first in 1'50''. He improves one after the other and takes 2rd scratch time in 1'48''795.
Discreet at the start of the session, the reigning French Champion Kenny FORAY (BMW) bounced back in the final minutes to return to the front in 1'48''954. He honors his number 1 and completes the first line. Axel MAURIN (Yamaha) adopts the same strategy as the Team BMW Tecmas rider and signs an honorable 1'49''025 which positions him in 4rd rank.
Jonathan HUGOT (Yamaha), entered in Superbike Challenger, stands out and manages to get among the leading men. Halfway through the session, it clocks in at the top of the timesheet until the last 5 minutes. He was finally relegated to 5rd position with a time of 1'49''340. The Albigensian rider, Steven NEUMANN (Yamaha) took second position in Superbike Challenger in 1'52''005. Not far behind in 1'52''193, Gabriel PONS (Kawasaki) completes the top 3 in the category.
Highly anticipated, the local drivers of Team LMS Suzuki have not yet been able to express the full extent of their talent on a wet and then drying track. Louis ROSSI, Hugo CLERE, and Alex SARRABAYROUSSE respectively signed the 20rd, 24rd and 31rd time. Will they manage to climb among the leading drivers tomorrow?
Nothing better than a race to perfect your preparation before the 24 Heures Moto which takes place in 3 weeks. Authors of the 6rd and 11rd time in 1'49''858 and 1'51''484, the multiple Endurance World Champion Roberto ROLFO (Yamaha) and the former Moto 3 rider, Alexis MASBOU (Yamaha), have decided to line up this weekend in Superbike, in order to refine the settings of their R1.
TIMED TESTS 2: GUARNONI DETERMINED
The session gets off to a flying start, with the first drivers quickly dropping below the 1'39'' mark.
At the end of the session, Jérémy GUARNONI (Kawasaki) reminded his opponents that he was already the author of the pole last year. Particularly comfortable in the exercise, he repeated his performance with a time of 1'37''189.
Roberto ROLFO (Yamaha) did not come to make up the numbers, he won the second time in 1'37''362. Kenny FORAY was keen to shine and make his BMW n°1 shine, it's done, the reigning French Champion completes the first row of the starting grid in 1'37''830.
Meet you on the 2rd line on Sunday, Morgan BERCHET (Yamaha), less scathing than in the morning but still looking for performance, offers fourth place to Team PMR in 1'38''083. He is followed by the driver of the #23 BMW, Mathieu LUSSIANA who completes the top 5 by scoring a 1'38''397. At the start of the 6rd position, Erwan NIGON (Yamaha), remained a reference in 1'38''662, ended up improving in 1'38''434.
The paddock is seeing good progress for Louis ROSSI on the Team Suzuki LMS side. Former Grand Prix driver ranks 9rd ranked in 1'38''917, a good result which should encourage his teammate, Alex SARRABAYROUSE, 16rd in 1'39''860.
In the Superbike Challenger category, Jonathan HUGOT (Yamaha) continues to impress and takes the best time in 1'38''644. Much more comfortable in this second session, Hugo CLERE(Suzuki LMS) finishes in 2rd place in 1'39''268. Randy PAGAUD lets his talent express itself to sign a 1'39''839 which allows him to obtain a top 3.
SUPERSPORT – PIRELLI 600 TROPHY
TIMED TESTS 1: STOLL, EXPERIENCE TAKES UP
Wild-Card rider of the weekend, Enzo BOULOM (Yamaha) seems to be quickly making his mark. He improves one after the other but is sidelined by Clement STOLL (Triumph) who set a first reference time mid-session in 1'54''482.
15 minutes from the checkered flag, the Race Direction raised a red flag after a succession of falls at the junction exit, which paralyzed the proceedings for a few moments.
As soon as the restart, BOULOM goes on the attack and drops below the 1'54'' mark. STOLL did not let himself be intimidated and responded straight away in 1'52''590, the absolute best time for the Triumph rider, the only one to run in 1'52''.
Enzo BOULOM, for his part, continues to improve but cannot do better than 1'53''375, which still raises him to 2rd rank.
The first row arouses real interest, which gives rise to a magnificent battle between Guillaume ANTIGA (Yamaha) and Guillaume POT (Yamaha). This battle ended up leaning in favor of ANTIGA with a time of 1'54''293. The winner of the 600 Promosport 2017 French Cups will have to settle for a respectable 4rd place on the timesheet in 1'54''540.
Slightly behind, the reigning French Champion Cédric TANGRE (Suzuki) recorded a time of 1'56''442 which placed him in 9rd position on the starting grid.
On the Pirelli 600 Trophy side, Yamaha rider Dylan MILLE stands out from the crowd and stands out in 2'00''180. Valentin GRIMOUX (Yamaha) took the second best time in 2'02''819 while Gaëtan MATERN (Kawasaki) completed the podium in 2'02''855.
TIMED TESTS 2: A DECISIVE WEATHER
We had to be on track from the first minutes of this session. Indeed, the track was dry but the rain fell after 10 minutes on the Bugatti circuit in Le Mans, which forced the drivers to return to the pits.
Clement STOLL (Triumph) took advantage of the first moments to set a high pace. A beneficial risk-taking which allowed him to take pole position in 1'45''052.
Like the first debate, Enzo BOULOM (Yamaha) slips into second place in 1'45''425. Guillaume ANTIGA (Yamaha) inherits third place and completes the first row with a time of 1'45''551.
At the end of the session, Louis BULLE (Yamaha) and Guillaume RAYMOND (Yamaha) respectively point 4rd and 5rd in 1'46''118 and 1'46''262, an important detail for these two drivers capable of playing leading roles in the race!
He is one of the only ones to have returned to the track in the rain, and his record is a little poor: Cédric TANGRE(Suzuki) did not have time to confirm in the dry. The reigning Champion concludes the session in 23rdposition in 1'55''985. The paddock is waiting for him around the corner tomorrow!
On the Pirelli 600 Trophy side, Dylan MILLE (Yamaha) did well again and finished first in 1'48''754. Gaëtan MATERN (Kawasaki), for his part, gained one place and ranked second in 1'50''934. To complete the top 3 in the category, Triumph driver Arnaud SIMON made the effort in 1'51''447.
GRAND PRIX OBJECTIVE – PRE MOTO3
TIMED TESTS 1: FIRST FOR PUDDING
Riding his Yamaha, Alexis BOUDIN (Beon Yamaha) dominates this first timed practice session head and shoulders. Imperial, he took the title of fastest driver on each section to sign a magnificent lap in 2'08''206! Bartholomé PERRIN (Moriwaki) and Antoine BONNARD (Yamaha) complete the first row of race 1 on Sunday with respective times of 2'11''138 and 2'11''805.
Please note, Guillaume JUCHA (Moriwaki), distinguished driver in the category, takes 4rd time in 2'12''287. The paddock also focuses its attention on Charles AUBRIE (Over Yamaha) and Line VIEILLARD (Yamaha), two young figures in the category who will start from 3rd line after recording respective times of 2'13''860 and 2'15''538.
TIMED TRIALS 2: TOWARDS AN ANIMATED DUEL?
Two riders clearly stand out from the crowd and hold the attention of the public: Alexis BOUDIN (Beon Yamaha) and Bartholomé PERRIN (Morimaki). The first takes control of operations and wishes to repeat his performance from the morning session. But that was without counting on PERRIN, a vengeful man, he continued to improve with each pass on the timing line and ended up shining under 2 minutes in 1'59''357. With a time of 1'59''731, BOUDIN finished just behind the pole sitter.
Marceau LAPIERRE (Beon Pre3) waits for the final lap to post a time of 2'02''361 which allows him to reach the last place on the first row.
Like the morning exercise, Guillaume JUCHA (Moriwaki), experienced driver in the category, once again takes 4rd place in 2'02''393.
She stands out and represents the fairer sex in the most beautiful way with a 6rd place according to a time in 2'04''239: Line VIEILLARD (Yamaha) can be proud.
SIDECAR
RACE 1: A 600 IN F1!
Excellent start for the REEVES / WILKES duo who compensate for the power of their 600cc with significant experience. The English crew, seven-time World Champion, takes the lead in the Dunlop curve. Impressive in their ease and ease, the British pair seem to be heading towards victory…
Riding their Side F1, LEGLISE / OLLIGER tries to keep up with the pace. They put pressure on the leading crew who nevertheless take a little breath when approaching the 3rd round. Moment chosen by the STREUER / ROUSSEAU pair, which then evolves into 3rd rank aboard his 600cc, to carry out his attack and seize the 2rd position.
A dramatic turn of events with 4 rounds of the checkered flag! REEVES / WILKES, then in leading position, enters the pit and does not come out. The way is therefore clear and the STREUER / ROUSSEAU duo takes the opportunity to win in the first race of the season!
At the center of a quarrel for third place, we find the crews LE BAIL / LEVEAU, OUGER / PEUGEOT, VINET / VINET. In the end, it was the father and son duo VINET who got the better of their opponents to grab the last step of the podium. OUGER / PEUGEOT finds the opening on LE BAIL / LEVEAU without managing to gain the upper hand on Side n°29.
The female duo LEBLOND / FARNIER which got off to an excellent start lost 2 places to the detriment of BARBIER / CROCHEMORE and GALLERNE / CHAIGNEAU but still confirmed third place in the 600cc class.
Please note, MOREAU / BRICHARD was unable to start following the fall of his passenger this morning. MOREAU will start alongside CLEMENT for the rest of the weekend.
FOLLOW THE FRENCH SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
Fsbk.fr, the website dedicated to the French Superbike Championship, always offers live coverage of everything that happens during the weekend, detailed information, photos, results, videos, etc.
For this 2018 season, the FFM will broadcast each evening of the event a video of the best moments of the day on the official fsbk Facebook page and the fsbk.fr website.
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CALENDAR 2018
31/03–01/04 LE MANS (72) – ASM 24H ACO
28–29/04 – NOGARO (32) – ASM Armagnac Bigorre
16–17/06 – LEDENON (30) – MC Ledenon
30/06–01/07 – MAGNY-COURS (58) – MC Nevers and Nièvre
14–15/07 – PAU ARNOS (64) – MC Pau Arnos
25–26/08 – CAROLE (93) – MC Motors Events
22–23/09 – ALBI (81) – MCC Albi
