On Saturday afternoon, Jonas Folger closed the first WorldSBK race of the new season in 16th place.
At a sunny World Superbike Championship opening round at Spain’s MotorLand Aragón, Jonas Folger his technical crew in Bonovo Action / MGM Racing Performance team worked tirelessly getting a better feeling for the all-new BMW M 1000 RR. In doing so, the 27-year-old Bavarian rider managed to improve his lap times during the third free practice session on Saturday morning compared to the previous day.
In the all-important Superpole session later this morning, Folger was able to make another step and brought his fastest lap time down to a 1’50.628, an increase of almost half a second on his best effort in FP3. But his rivals also improved, leaving Folger in 18th spot on the starting grid for the opening race of the 2021 season.
In the first race of the weekend this afternoon, it took a few laps for the BMW rider to settle into the field. The one or other riding mistake did not help get into a smooth rhythm though it was not until the second half of the race that he was able to set more consistent lap times. Folger ultimately ended up in 16th place, just two seconds off his first world championship points in the new season.
#94 Jonas FOLGER (Bonovo Action / MGM Racing Performance, BMW M 1000 RR), Grid position 18th / Race1: P16 +41.544
“It was a more difficult race, as I did not have really imagined. Therefore, I cannot say too much about it. During Superpole in the morning things did not go better either. I did my fastest lap right at the start with the SCX tyre instead of getting out the maximum of the super-soft qualifier. That is a bit annoying. Apart from that, we urgently need to find solutions, because I do not really feel at one with my machine now. We have tried many things but have not found an optimum setup for this track yet. I am disappointed because I had hoped for a somewhat more pleasant start to the championship. Obviously, we are going in circles since a while. Nevertheless, I made the best out of the situation in the race. Hopefully, things will go a little better tomorrow.”
#AragonWorldSBK - Superpole:
1 Jonathan REA / GBR / Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR / 1´48.458
2 Scott REDDING / GBR / Aruba.it Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R / 1´48.733 +0.275
3 Tom SYKES / GBR / BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW M 1000 RR / 1´48.840 0.382
18 #94 Jonas FOLGER / GER / Bonovo Action MGM Racing Performance / BMW M 1000 RR / 1´50.628 +2.170
#AragonWorldSBK - Race 1 Classification:
1 Jonathan REA / GBR / Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR / 33´24.225
2 Alex LOWES / GBR / Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR / +3.965
3 Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU / TUR / Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / +4.008
16 #94 Jonas FOLGER / GER / Bonovo Action MGM Racing Performance / BMW M 1000 RR / +41.544
#WorldSBK Standing:
1 Jonathan REA / GBR / Kawasaki / 25
2 Alex LOWES / GBR / Kawasaki / 20
3 Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU / TUR / Yamaha / 16
