Eighth Place for Davide Giugliano in Race One at Magny-Cours

Davide Giugliano finished today’s WorldSBK race one at Magny-Cours in eighth place, courtesy of a strong performance on board his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 machine on the drying French circuit. His Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team mate Jake Gagne was forced into a late retirement after fighting for a top-12 result.

Giugliano got an OK launch off sixth place on the grid and, after a few laps needed to adjust to the drying track conditions, he settled into a nice, consistently improving rhythm which allowed him to catch and overtake his former teammate Chaz Davies on lap 14. After losing one place to Laverty five laps later, the 27-year-old Italian managed to maintain eighth position up to the checkered flag. Courtesy of today’s result, Davide will start race two tomorrow from the middle of the second row (fifth place).

Jake Gagne had an encouraging and convincing early part of the race as he made his way up from 18th place on the grid to 12th in only five laps. The young American rider then a small setback on lap 7 which cost him a couple of places and, after staying attached to the group fighting for 12th position, he ran off track on the penultimate lap after experiencing a gear-shifting issue, and retired shortly afterwards. His starting position will not change for race two.

Race two for the French Round of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship will get underway tomorrow at 13:00 local time (GMT +2), after the 15-minute warm up scheduled at 9:00.

Honda Rider Comments

Davide Giugliano (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team)
Race result: Race 1 / 8th

“It has been a positive race. We had good pace for the full 21 laps and we were able to improve all the way to the checkered flag. It was my first time riding the bike for more than a few laps in wet conditions so there were some things I needed to understand first before I could start pushing harder. The team did a great job in translating my comments and the data into appropriate changes to the bike set-up. Obviously there is still room for improvement, but for a first wet race I’d say it hasn’t been a bad one at all!”

Jake Gagne (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team)
Race result: Race 1 / DNF

“It was my first race in wet conditions with this bike and Pirelli tires, so again there was a lot to learn for me. I’m happy with how I was able to improve my pace lap after lap; the bike is quite different with the wet set-up on but I was able to adjust to that and – despite a small setback in the first half which cost me a couple of places – I was able to run consistently and gather some more experience. My goal was to finish the race – we got really close to it, but unfortunately we had to retire with less than two laps to go. It’s a pity, really, but there’s another race tomorrow to make it right.”

Ronald ten Kate – Team Manager

“Davide rode a brilliant race. It was clear from Superpole already that he was feeling comfortable with the bike in the wet, but obviously the drying asphalt added a further challenge to the race as the laps went by. Eighth place is a good result – maybe it could have been even better but we’re definitely happy with his performance. His comments were again positive and that shows that we’re working in the right direction. Too bad for Jake’s retirement, but unfortunately the gear-shifting issue he experienced did not allow him to finish the race. He did a good race nevertheless, especially if we consider that it was his first race in wet conditions with Pirelli tires and this version of the Fireblade. He keeps improving, so I’m looking forward to seeing what he’ll be able to do tomorrow.”

Giugliano makes up for lack of early luck as Gagne improves best WorldSBK result

Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team’s Davide Giugliano and Jake Gagne were 11th and 12th, respectively, at the end of the 21-lap, second encounter of the eleventh WorldSBK round of the season, which was contested today at the ‘Circuit de Nevers, Magny-Cours’ in Central France.

Despite losing a handful of places at the start, Giugliano managed to stay in touch with the leading group but eventually had to run wide to avoid Eugene Laverty after the Irishman highsided at the exit of turn 15. The former STK1000 Champion re-joined at the back of the field in 18th place, from where his steady recovery began. In the final part of the race, the 27-year-old from Rome was able to further improve his speed and showed a top-10 rhythm as he went first past his team mate Gagne on lap 17 for 14th place. He then overtook both West and Andreozzi to seal 11th place at the checkered flag after setting his fastest time of the race on his third-last lap.

Jake Gagne enjoyed a decent start from row six and kept a steady pace in the first half of the encounter as he rounded out the top-15 while trying to get accustomed to racing in intermittent drizzle. The 24-year-old from San Diego then got up to speed and started to log some competitive lap-times as he made his way past some rivals and set his quickest time at the very end of the race, which helped him consolidate 12th place at the line – and set a new personal best result for him in the series.

The penultimate round of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship will take place at Spain’s ‘Circuito de Jerez’ in three weekend’s time.

Honda Rider Comments

Davide Giugliano (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team)
Race result: Race 2 / 11th

“It’s been an unlucky race, because I feel I had the pace to be fighting for a top-6 finish. The realistic goal before the start was to finish between 8th and 11th, but we turned out to be quicker than we expected. It was hard to push when I found myself at the back of the field, because even though I knew I had to make up ground, I was riding on my own so I didn’t know how wet it was on different parts of the circuit and how conditions were evolving throughout the lap. We put together a good comeback, we made some passes and we showed a good pace, so I think there’s a good synergy developing between the bike and myself now. The guys have done an amazing job: I feel that the bike is improving a lot, and that was the reason I was chosen in the first place so I’m happy. The top speed was also excellent today. Obviously there is still a lot to improve, but things are going in the right direction.”

Jake Gagne (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team)
Race result: Race 2 / 12th

“The big thing for me today is that, unlike MotoAmerica, the flag-to-flag rule means that even if it’s spitting rain, you can still race on slick tires. This for me was a completely new scenario, so it took me a while to figure out how much I could push in these conditions. Towards the end, I started going faster and faster and I even set my personal fastest time of the whole weekend on the very last lap. Twelfth place is not bad, but I feel I had the potential to do much better today. I’m happy with what I’ve learned and that I was able to improve outing after outing and race after race. I want to thank the whole team because it’s been another amazing experience and I had a lot of fun.”

Ronald ten Kate – Team Manager

“It was a very interesting second race, especially given the tricky and unpredictable conditions the whole field encountered today. Davide was riding well until he had to take an unwanted trip onto the gravel in order to avoid Eugene when he fell off. This setback made him lose touch with the group fighting for the top-10, which is a shame because it looked like he had the pace to get in the mix up there. He made a good comeback nevertheless so we are happy with this performance. It was the first time for Jake to ride on slicks with rain coming down, because MotoAmerica sporting rules are different in that regard. Once he figured how to ride in these conditions he really improved his pace, so the question mark is on how much more competitive he could have been otherwise. We really enjoyed working with him again.”

World Superbike and World Supersport 2017
Round 11: Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours – France