After a solid performance in the Superpole race, Jonas Folger delivers a strong second race on Sunday and takes eighth place.
After the weather showed up from its best side on the previous days at Spain’s MotorLand Aragón circuit, several rain showers provided variety and excitement on Sunday. Jonas Folger and his crew of the Bonovo Action / MGM Racing Performance team, however, were able to benefit from these capers.
Already in Superpole race on late Sunday morning, the 27-year-old WorldSBK rookie moved strongly forward from 18th spot on the starting grid to eleventh on a still wet track in the opening lap. Over the course of the sprint race with only 10 laps, he was able to hold his own in the middle of the pack and came home in 13th place finally.
After another rain shower, most of the field started the second main event of the weekend with intermediate tyres. Folger and his team, however, took a risk and opted for slicks. As the track gradually dried out, the BMW rider was able to make his way from P19 to the front. By halfway point of the race, he was already in twelfth position. Towards the end of the race, Folger was setting lap times like the frontrunners and ultimately secured eighth place - the best WorldSBK result to date for the fledgling Bonovo Action / MGM Racing Performance team.
Now the World Superbike squad travels on from Spain to Portugal, where the second round of the World Championship will be held in Estoril next weekend.
#94 Jonas FOLGER (Bonovo Action / MGM Racing Performance, BMW M 1000 RR), Superpole-Race: P13 +41.188 / Rennen 2: P8 - +20.584
“With P8 in the third race this weekend, I am overjoyed! Especially because we managed this after a very difficult weekend. The conditions were opaque. We did not know for a long time whether to go out with rain tyres or slicks and in the end, we opted for slicks. Scott Redding and Chaz Davies were the only two other riders who also started on slicks. Our risk paid off in full manner. The longer the race went on, the better I felt and got faster and faster. In the end I did similar lap times to Scott, so I am super happy about that. Of course, the conditions suited us a bit, but it was not that easy at the beginning.”
“On the last lap I wanted to pass Toprak Razgatlioglu, but unfortunately I went wide on the brakes. Without this blunder, it might even have been enough for sixth place. Nevertheless, eighth place is an absolute highlight compared to the rest of the weekend, so that we can be satisfied at all and also can look forward to the next race in Estoril in a somewhat more relaxed mood. I was also pleased that Mr. Jürgen Röder was with us this weekend. So, eighth place was a successful debut for all of us, which we can now celebrate together a little this evening. But before that, I would like to thank Mr. Röder once again for everything he does for us and for coming to the races despite the difficult situation regarding travel restrictions.”
#AragonWorldSBK - Superpole Race:
1 Jonathan REA / GBR / Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR / 19´47.949
2 Alex LOWES / GBR / Kawasaski Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR / +3.506
3 Garrett GERLOFF / USA / GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1 / +5.051
13 #94 Jonas FOLGER / GER / Bonovo Action MGM Racing Performance / BMW M 1000 RR / +41.188
#AragonWorldSBK - Race 2:
1 Scott REDDING / Aruba.it Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R / 34´19.394
2 Jonathan REA / GBR / Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR / +9.856
3 Alex LOWES / GBR / Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR / +10.434
8 #94 Jonas FOLGER / GER / Bonovo Action MGM Racing Performance / BMW M 1000 RR / +41.544
#WorldSBK Standing:
1 Jonathan REA / GBR / Kawasaki / 57
2 Alex LOWES / GBR / Kawasaki / 45
3 Scott REDDING / GBR / Ducati / 40
11 #94 Jonas FOLGER / GER / BMW / 11
