The European Circuit of Pau Arnos and the French Motorcycling Federation are hosting, this weekend, the 4rd round of the French Superbike Championship. Back in Béarn, the sun allowed the drivers to achieve their best times on a circuit that was still spectacular. The speed experts will meet this Sunday for the final races.
SUPERBIKES
TIMED TESTS: LOGIC IS RESPECTED FOR SIMEON
In Superbike, the first row of the starting grid will look good with three riders with a well-stocked track record.
Wildcard rider on this stage, Xavier SIMÉON (Yamaha) dominates his competitors on the asphalt of Pau Arnos. The former MotoGP rider is the only one to go under the 1'17 mark, he seizes pole position under the noses of his opponents in 1'16''973. His best opponent, Kenny FORAY (BMW Tecmas), obtained 2nd place on the starting grid in the last minutes of the qualifying session thanks to a covered lap in 1'17''113. The first line is completed by Christophe PONSSON (Yamaha) who completed his fastest lap in 1'17''276.
Leader of the general classification, Mathieu GINES (BMW Tecmas) must be satisfied with the 2nd row of the grid. He achieved the 4th time of the session: 1'17''501. By his side, Morgan BERCHET (Yamaha) in 1'17''617 and Axel MAURIN (Yamaha) in 1'17''642 ranked 5th and 6th.
Louis BULLE (Yamaha), the “rookie” of the category, will start from 7th position, he signs a time of 1'17''709. The paddock also observed the return to business of Grégory LEBLANC (Yamaha), 8th, in 1'18''298.
Among the Challengers, Enzo BOULOM (Yamaha) seems in good shape on the Pau Arnos Circuit! Riding his No. 25 Yamaha, he set the fastest time in his category in 1'18''408 and ranked 9th in the scratch. Author of the second phase, Clement STOLL shines the colors of the Suzuki LMS in 12th place in 1'18''790. Maxime BONNOT, for its part, honors Team BMW Tecmas with the 13th fastest time in the scratch and the 3rd best time for the Challengers in 1'18''861.
SUPERSPORT 600
TIMED TESTING: RAYMOND NEARLY TAKES POLE
In the Supersport 600 category, the 3 fastest drivers are close to each other. Already the fastest during free practice, Guillaume RAYMOND (Yamaha) confirms its good form and takes pole position with a time of 1'19'227. The Challenger pilot, Martin RENAUDIN (Yamaha), achieves the 2rd session time, 1'19''264.
For its part, Guillaume POT (Yamaha) continues to chain the first lines with the 3rd session time in 1'19"337.
Last driver to run in 1'19, Maximilian BAU (Yamaha) changes its habits and will start the 4th round of the FSBK from the second row in race 1. Riding the Yamaha n°108, Maximilian BAU still came out with an honorable 4th time in 1'19''607 ahead of Renald CASTILLON GIOANNI (Yamaha), 5rd in 1'20''466.
Among Supersport Challenger drivers, Matthew GREGORIO (Yamaha) ranks 3rd in 1'21''379 ahead Maxence CHACHUAT (Yamaha) in 1'21 »379 and Ludovic CAUCHI (Yamaha) in 1’22”379.
SUPERSPORT 300
TIMED TESTING: ONE MORE POLE FOR GIRARDET
From the start of the qualifying session, Hugo GIRARDET (Kawasaki) reminds that he is the leader of the general classification. Almost a second faster than during free practice, the rider of the #70 Kawasaki took pole position and even improved his time at the end of the session to 1'26''466.
Despite the tenacity of Enzo CEOLOTTO (Yamaha) and Alexis BOUDIN (Kawasaki), 2nd place on the starting grid is to be credited to Tom BERCOT (Yamaha) which finished the session in 1'27''680. Regularly achieving good results, Alexis BOUDIN (Kawasaki) completes the first row thanks to a time of 1'27''895 signed at the end of the session. Less efficient, Enzo CEOLOTTO will not benefit from the advantage of the first row, he concludes the timed exercise with the 4rd time in 1'28''073.
To note, Louis LAGRIVE (Kawasaki) takes 5rd place on the starting grid in 1'28''175. Can the son of Champion Matthieu LAGRIVE follow in his father's footsteps? Answer tomorrow in the race!
GRAND PRIX OBJECTIVE – PRE MOTO3
TIMED TESTS: NO DOUBT FOR ROUGE
Wildcard driver on the stage, Clément ROUGE (Moriwaki MD) is faster than the OGP regulars on the Pau Arnos Circuit. The driver of the French Vitesse GP team wins 1st with flying colorsst place on the grid in 1'24''052.
Facing him, the distinguished rider of the category, Vincent FALCONE (Beon Yamaha) nevertheless failed to pass the 1'25 mark. He covered his best lap in 1'25''098, a time which allowed him to start from second place. Bartholomé PERRIN (Beon Yamaha) completes the 1st line in 1'25''605.
Two category favorites find themselves on the second row of the starting grid: José SALVANS (RMU TM 250) in 1'26''530 and Antoine BONNARD (Moriwaki MD) in 1'26''618.
SIDECAR
TIMED TESTS: DELANNOY / ROUSSEAU CONTINUES ITS SERIES
Starting from pole position, DELANNOY / COMMON ceded the leadership to AZZOPARDI / FENOY in the first moments of the race. Although 5th at the start, the latter took control without difficulty but saw the Championship leader return sharply. After a battle that lasted only 3 laps, the DELANNOY / COMMON side regained the lead and immediately widened the gap! In the process AZZOPARDI / FENOY suffered the wrath of the 600cc of LEGLISE / CLEMENT who moved into second place. Side n°31 then sees its competitors take off gradually.
After 9 laps of the race, a racing event disrupted the proceedings: The side of LE BAIL / LEVEAU went backwards in the hairpin, the Race Direction therefore displayed the red flag.
After a few minutes of stopping, a second start is given and the sidecars set off again for 5 laps. DELANNOY / COMMON immediately regains control of the race and escapes. Three laps later, VINET / VINET took advantage of the abandonment of LEGLISE / CLEMENT, who was the victim of mechanical problems, and took 2nd position.
Combined with the two parts of the race, DELANNOY / COMMON wins once again in Pau Arnos, ahead of VINET / VINET who obtains 2nd place at the end of the race and AZZOPARDI / FENOY who completes the podium.
In F2 CHANAL / FARNIER, 5th in Scratch, wins ahead of LEGUEN / ROUBY, 7th. For its part, QUILBAULT / PESENTI completes this F2 podium thanks to its 11th place overall.
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 2019 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.
Other events will punctuate the weekend through a system specifically focused on social networks via Twitter: @FSBK_officiel, Facebook: fsbk, Youtube: ffmfbk and Instagram: fsbk
CALENDAR 2019
22/06 – 23/06 – Pau Arnos – Moto Club Pau Arnos
06/07 – 07/07 – Magny-Cours – Moto Club of Nevers and Nièvre
24/08 – 25/08 – Circuit Carole – Motors Events
14/09 – 15/09 – Albi – MC Albi
