On Sunday, Jonas Folger did two strong races in the hot south of Spain to score twice.
After the tragic events of the previous day, the shock was still omnipresent in the paddock of the Circuito de Jerez on Sunday. A modified schedule included both main races of this season’s WorldSBK round ten. Each participant was free to decide whether he would take part in the rest of the weekend.
Sporting achievements, however, clearly took a back seat. Nevertheless, Jonas Folger and his entire crew in Bonovo Action / MGM Racing Performance tried to focus on improving their level of performance after the 28-year-old Bavarian rider qualified for P14 on the starting grid on Saturday morning.
In race one, Folger initially dropped back to 17th position. Gradually, however, the BMW rider was able to make up ground and by fourth lap, he was already in 15th place, i.e., within the points. Thanks to consistent lap times over 20 laps, he managed to make up another position with four laps to go to ultimately finish in 14th place.
Folger also lost a few positions in the first laps at the start of the second heat this afternoon. From position 17 at the end of the opening lap, he again made up many meters, moved up to 16th place on lap two and was back in the points on lap four. He grabbed 14th place on lap seven before again managing to reel off consistently fast times. As in the race before in the morning, Folger got faster and faster the longer the race went on. Four laps before the chequered flag, he set his personal fastest lap of the race, making up another place and ultimately finishing 13th, one position better than in the previous race.
#94 Jonas FOLGER (Bonovo Action / MGM Racing Performance, BMW M 1000 RR)
Race 1: P14 / Race 2: P13
“It was not easy to focus on the essentials again initially. A race crash with fatal consequences is not easy to forget. My deepest sympathies therefore go to the relatives of Dean Berta Vinales. We raced today with him in mind. From my point of view, I am really satisfied with the outcome of the weekend. Both races went much better than the last ones. Unfortunately, the first laps were not as I had hoped, as it was difficult to generate good grip with new tyres, plus the situation was a bit uncontrolled at first. But after five or six laps I was able to find my rhythm and I also felt the bike much better. After the first race we knew which direction we had to take. It was important to have already gained helpful experience in the morning and to have fought with some strong riders. There was a clear difference.”
“That was why I went into the second race with a lot of confidence. Unfortunately, the first laps were again not awesome. A lack of grip at the start may have cost me a better result. But after that I was able to put in a strong race. It was fun, I was able to overtake, and I was even able to catch up with Leon Haslam and Eugene Laverty towards the end of the distance. One or two more laps, who knows what would have been possible. That showed that what we did this weekend worked out really well. It was a lot better than earlier in the season. We made significant progress. It is nice to see that we have been able to improve consistently well with each session from Superpole onwards. Looking at the lap times in the races gives me a lot of confidence, although we will have to start from scratch again next week in Portimao because I do not know the track there.”
#ESPWorldSBK - Superpole Result:
1 Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU / TUR / Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´38.512
2 Alex LOWES / GBR / Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR / 1´38.539 +0.027
3 Jonathan REA / GBR / Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR / 1´38.614 +0.102
14 #94 Jonas FOLGER / GER / Bonovo Action MGM Racing Performance / BMW M 1000 RR / 1´40.121 +1.609
#ESPWorldSBK - Race 1 Classification (20 Laps):
1 Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU / TUR / Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / 33´37.061
2 Jonathan REA / GBR / Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR / +1.225
3 Scott REDDING / GBR / Aruba.it Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R / +2.791
14 #94 Jonas FOLGER / GER / Bonovo Action MGM Racing Performance / BMW M 1000 RR / +30.594
#ESPWorldSBK - Race 2 Classification (20 Laps):
1 Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU / TUR / Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / 33´49.883
2 Scott REDDING / GBR / Aruba.it Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R / +0.113
3 Alvaro BAUTISTA / SPA / Team HRC / Honda CBR1000 RR-R / +4.247
13 #94 Jonas FOLGER / GER / Bonovo Action MGM Racing Performance / BMW M 1000 RR / +27.713
WorldSBK Standing:
1 Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU / TUR / Yamaha / 449
2 Jonathan REA / GBR / Kawasaki / 429
3 Scott REDDING / GBR / Ducati / 375
20 #94 Jonas FOLGER / GER / BMW / 19
