Regardless of stubborn technical issues on Saturday morning, Jonas Folger’s debut in the World Championship with production-based race bikes came to a very pleasingly conclusion.
Jonas Folger and his technical crew of the MGM Racing Team were able to benefit well from the data collected on the previous day. With regards to set up their Yamaha Superbike, they were finally able to react differently in many areas and therefore create better settings. As he did on Saturday during the first main race of the weekend, Folger overtook half of the entry list in Superpole race either and finished in a splendid tenth place. This was his starting position for the second main race in the afternoon, for which he set his goal with the jump into the top ten again. He almost succeeded, too, if the Frenchman Loris Baz had not caught him at the finish line. Folger wants to continue his career in this series in the future.
#94 Jonas FOLGER (Bonovo action powerd by MGM Racing, Yamaha YZF R1), Superpole-Race: P10 / Race 2: P11:
“All in all, I am happy with my first Superbike World Championship weekend. To be honest, I would have hoped for a bit more for the second main race on Sunday because I wanted to finish in the top ten. In the end it was just not enough by a hair’s breadth. But I lost a better result right at the beginning because it took much too long to get into my rhythm with new tyres. But from halfway point of the race it went better. Based on the data collected yesterday, we managed to improve the mappings a little bit. Therefore, we were able to improve our performance for the second part of the race. This is perhaps the most positive point of the weekend.”
“So, if we do not consider our technical problems, which we sometimes had and for which we mostly could not do anything, then we have done a very great job. I am very satisfied with my performance. The same goes for the whole team. At this point I would like to emphasize that every single one of them has always given everything. For this, I can be proud of my boys. In addition, this weekend was a lot of fun and joy, as well as a great experience in every respect. Hopefully, I was able to leave a strong impression because I would like to continue my career in this championship in the future.”
#CatalanWorldSBK - Superbike Superpole-Race Result (10 Laps):
1 Michael van der MARK / NED / PATA YAMHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1 / 17´07.732
2 Jonathan REA / GBR / Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR / +2.372
3 Loris BAZ / FRA / Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R1 / +2.923
10 #94 Jonas FOLGER / GER / Bonovo Action by MGM Racing / Yamaha YZF R1 / +12.709
#CatalanWorldSBK - Superbike Race 2 Result (20 Laps):
1 Chaz DAVIES / GBR / ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R / 34´29.729
2 Michael van der MARK / NED / PATA YAMHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1 / +2.460
3 Garrett GERLOFF / USA / GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team / Yamaha YZF R1 / +2.559
11 #94 Jonas FOLGER / GER / Bonovo Action by MGM Racing / Yamaha YZF R1 / +20.451
WorldSBK Championship Standing:
1 Jonathan REA / GBR / Kawasaki / 290
2 Scott REDDING / GBR / Ducati / 238
3 Chaz DAVIES / GBR / Ducati / 188
20 #94 Jonas FOLGER / GER / Yamaha YZF R1 / 9
