BMW MOTORRAD ITALIA GOLDBET SBK TEAM - MAGNY COURS - FRIDAY

Michel Fabrizio and Ayrton Badovini scored a twelfth and a thirteenth place in Free Practice 1, that was characterized by a progressive bettering of the track condition that was partially damp at the beginning and full dry by the end of the session.

The afternoon’s Qualifying 1 was performed under perfect conditions and saw Michel Fabrizio climbing up the classification to a 6th final place – courtesy of a 1’39.139 set with softer tyres during his penultimate lap – after a lot of work done over the race distance. Ayrton Badovini got a 12th place and, despite some minor adjustments still to be made, was able to finish in the top-16 that, after tomorrow’s qualifying session, will decide the list of riders who will take part in the Superpole.

Sylvain Barrier was first at the chequered flag of FIM Superstock 1000 Cup Qualifying 1 with a competitive lap time of 1’41.633 set in the final minutes – just 298 thousands of a second slower than the lap record for the championship . Greg Gildenhuys got a good start to his first day on the BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team’s BMW S 1000 RR by achieving a fourth position in the today’s 45 minute qualifying practice.

Serafino Foti, BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet Superbike Team Sporting Director, said: “Today was a quite positive day, not only for Michel’s sixth place in qualifying but also because the job is going well and the bike seems to be working well on this track. Ayrton had some more issues and that’s the reason why he’s a bit further back but we’re already working on it. The weather conditions were very good today and that doesn’t happen often here at Magny-Cours. We’ll see if it will stay like this or if the rain will come.”

Sylvain did a good job and he must continue doing so and keep his concentration high. Greg’s debut was more than adequate and the fourth place is encouraging as he has raced only once before in 2007 and today was his first time on the bike.”

Michel Fabrizio #84 FP1 12th (1'40.579) QP1 6th (1'39.139) : "Today went well. I’m quite happy with both the race distance work and the time set on softer tyres. We’ll try to further improve tomorrow and to go below the 1’39.”

Ayrton Badovini #86 FP1 13th (1'40.922) QP1 12th (1'39.530) : "Despite some small issues today hasn’t gone too badly. It was good to stay in the top-16 even though if the conditions stay the same as today for tomorrow’s qualifying the Superpole chase will be like starting from scratch. We need to do well anyway to get into Superpole, obtain the best grid positions and at the same time continue the work for Sunday.”

Free Practice 1 1) Jonathan Rea - Honda 1'39.064 2) Sylvain Guintoli - Ducati +0.041 3) Leon Camier - Suzuki +0.271 7) Leon Haslam - BMW Motorrad Motorsport  +0.899 8) Marco Melandri - BMW Motorrad Motorsport +0.927 12) Michel Fabrizio - BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team +1.515 13) Ayrton Badovini - BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team +1.858

Qualifying 1 1) Tom Sykes - Kawasaki 1'38.200 2) Carlos Checa - Ducati +0.448 3) Marco Melandri - BMW Motorrad Motorsport +0.542 6) Michel Fabrizio - BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team +0.939 8) Leon Haslam - BMW Motorrad Motorsport +0.949 12) Ayrton Badovini - BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team +1.330

Superstock 1000 Qualifying 1) Sylvain Barrier - BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team 1'41.633 2) Jeremy Guarnoni - Kawasaki +0.041 3) Markus Reiterberger - BMW Team Alpha Racing +1.076 4) Greg Gildenhuys - BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team +1.083 5) Eddi La Marra - Ducati +1.240