by VALERIO BARRETTA
Magny-Cours, Bautista misses Race-2
The Magny-Cours weekend is evidently cursed. In the first lap of the French Superpole Race, in fact, Alvaro Baptist He crashed at the Nurburgring and suffered a fracture of the eighth rib on his left side.
The Spaniard will not be able to take part in Race 2, scheduled for 3.30pm, and will join Toprak Razgatlioglu (who already went out on Friday following a crash in FP2) and Jonathan Rea in the infirmary.
The reigning world champion was trying to gain ground from 16th place to start in the first three rows of Race-2. Too much haste perhaps cost the #1 a crash in turn-7 after coming into contact with the rear of Bradley Ray’s bike. Bautista was taken to the medical center where he was diagnosed with a fracture.
Race 2 at Magny-Cours will be the first without Rea, Razgatlioglu and Bautista – the last three Superbike world champions – in the last ten years. None of the three had taken part in a production-derived race since the 2013 Jerez round: Rea had been injured at the Nürburgring, Razgatlioglu and Bautista were not yet racing in the category.
#Superbike #MagnyCours #Bautista #Toprak #Rea
