Barely two weeks after his nasty crash in Assen, Jonas Folger is once again mixing it up in the top-class entry list without any physical restrictions when the World Superbike Championship visits the Czech Republic this weekend.
After Jonas Folger returned to his usual strong level of performance at the last meeting in the Netherlands, the Bavarian suffered a high-speed crash in the first race and was subsequently not given permission by doctors to get back aboard his machine on Sunday. The BMW rider was all the more pleased to be able to get back on his Superbike for the sixth round of WorldSBK 2021 this weekend.
Despite minor difficulties, Folger finished the first free practice session at the Autodrom Most in the northwest of the Czech Republic in the top-15, with the 27-year-old German missing just 1.5 seconds to the top riders at the end of the session.
The second session in the afternoon took place at a wet track. Folger and his Bonovo Action / MGM Racing Performance team decided to test out the track conditions in the second half and finished 13th after just a few laps done. The weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday promises dry conditions, which will give Folger and his experienced crew the chance to continue working on the setting of the BMW M 1000 RR for the new track to the WSBK calendar from FP3 on Saturday morning at 9:00 am.
#94 Jonas FOLGER (Bonovo Action / MGM Racing Performance, BMW M 1000 RR)
FP1: P15 - 1´34.615 / FP2: P13 - 1´53.835
“FP1 this morning was a pretty decent start to the weekend. The feeling for the bike and also for the track was good right from the start. Unfortunately, we had a minor problem with the clutch at the end, which held us up a bit in the final stage of the session. Fortunately, we were able to fix it quickly, so that we were able to do a few more important laps. In the afternoon it rained heavily for a while. In the first few minutes of the second session, there were not so many riders out on track. We initially waited to see how the situation would develop.”
“Finally, we decided to go out to build up a feeling in the wet in case that it will rain tomorrow or the day after again. That was a good idea because we now have a clear idea of the direction we have to go with the electronics when it is wet. There are no aftershocks from the crash in Assen. I have not felt the bruises for more than a week. Therefore, I felt quite comfortable on the bike and I like this track, it’s really nice to ride. So overall it was a good first day here in Most.”
#CZEWorldSBK - Combined Free Practice Times (FP1/FP2):
1 Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU / TUR / Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´33.022 (FP1)
2 Alex LOWES / GBR / Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR / 1´33.622 +0.600 (FP1)
3 Scott REDDING / GBR / Aruba.it Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R / 1´33.663 +0.641 (FP1)
15 #94 Jonas FOLGER / GER / Bonovo Action MGM Racing Performance / BMW M 1000 RR / 1´34.615 +1.593 (FP1)
#CZEWorldSBK - Time Schedule for Saturday August 7th (CET):
09:00 - 09:30 FP3
11:10 - 11:25 Superpole
14:00 Race 1 (22 Laps - 92.664 km)
