Reports
It started out well…
Qualifying: 13th
Race: 12th
...then I crossed the skis...
As I mentioned in my last report from Imola, the nice surprise was that after my victory in Italy, Gerrit Ten Kate was not satisfied to just congratulate me, he gave me a superb year-end gift with the opportunity to compete in the last World Supersport race of the season at Magny-Cours on the same bike as the 2 official Ten Kate riders, Sofuoglu and Pirro. This was possible since I had already clinched the title of Vice Champion in European Superstock 600.
Ask a blind man if he wants to see.... and with no pressure since my mission was to turn nice laps (they do not know me well enough yet at Ten Kate ;-)
For the first free practice session the mechanics let me go out without the traction control so I could feel the potential of the bike; uncontrollable, it kicked, bucked and I didn’t really enjoy it since I couldn’t master its power (140 hp).
Later that afternoon the qualifying session went better. With the traction control enabled I could use the bike as I wanted and after the 45 minutes of testing I qualified in 10th position within 9/10 seconds of pole. It was a good sign for the rest of the weekend because my opponents already had a whole year behind them on this type of bike and I made it into the top 10 by the second session. I still had two more sessions to improve and I thought I could actually gain at least two places on the grid.
Unfortunately the next part did not happen as I had dreamed. A rainy night, a free practice session that started with a track very wet in places and I didn’t expect to find myself on the ground at the end of the 3rd lap…. I picked up my bike and quickly returned to the garage to fix what I broke on the bike and I went back out for just 10 minutes, not enough to get a good feeling with a clean lap; basically it was my own fault that I missed out on the session.
That afternoon was the 2nd qualifying session and we went out with the opposite settings from before. I was lapping 1 second slower than in the first qualifying session, uncharacteristic, instead of moving forward I regressed. The fairing scratched the ground and I couldn’t hit the apex in the curves at a good pace… basically another lost session.
Fortunately the world championship races have a lot more practice time than Superstock, I only had the warm-up before the race the next day to verify the changes made to the settings after the poor second qualifying session… but disappointment, I went out for this famous warm-up, did one lap and immediately returned to the pits, the clutch was slipping and I could not exceed 80 kph. The mechanics worked with the clutch guard to no avail, the clutch still slipped, session ended, the clutch shot and my session too.
Starting the race from the fourth row, I had a very good start (as usual), I was 9th at the exit of Estoril, 8th on the brakes into Adelaide, 7th at 180, then regressed back to 10th place on the 9th lap, my fork was too soft and I could not stop when braking which led to a small crash on the brakes in Adelaide. I got up and was dead last and I finished the race in this position. I admit that I am still unsatisfied because I could not get more than 80% of the potential of this bike while I've given 100% (and beyond.) I kept going until the end but I was more exhausted mentally than physically, making several mistakes and losing my bearings. I passed the checkered flag thinking only one thing: get back on this bike with my two mechanics to find the settings that suit me and get us back on the podium as quickly as possible; I can not accept this disappointment.
See you soon with some news about my next adventures…
Cheers, Flo21an
WORLD SUPERSPORT 600 CHAMPIONSHIP
MAGNY-COURS
October 3rd
2010
Divers
Presentation
2011
2008
2007
My beginnings
My Partners
2009
