A rain-soaked track was the cause of an unintentionally late start to practice for Jonas Folger and his Bonovo Action / MGM Racing Performance team. Nevertheless, it took just a few laps for the BWM rider to place in the top-15.
Despite unfavourable conditions at the start of free practice one on Friday morning, the race weekend at the French Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours had begun with good omens for Jonas Folger. After some overnight rain, the 4.4 kilometres track dried out just slowly. Therefore, the majority of the top-class WorldSBK entry list waited for better track conditions. Folger therefore had to spend most of the 45-minute session in his garage before starting his preparations for round eight of the season ten minutes before the end of practice. With just four flying laps, however, he quickly re-acclimated to the challenging track in the region of Burgund and posted the 13th-fastest lap time.
During this afternoon’s FP2, the 28-year-old Bavarian rider managed a significant increase in his lap time right at the start. He was more than a second faster compared to this morning and finished the opening day in 15th place overall. So now, Folger can hardly wait to continue working on the set-up of his BMW M 1000 RR in free practice three on Saturday from 9:00 am, before going all out in Superpole at 11:00 am and the first main race of the weekend at 2:00 pm.
#94 Jonas FOLGER (Bonovo Action / MGM Racing Performance, BMW M 1000 RR)
FP1: P13 - 1´40.600 / FP2: P15 - 1´38.919
“Magny-Cours is a great track, I immediately felt comfortable with it again. Unfortunately, our first practice was very short because we waited until it had dried out and the track conditions made it possible to go out with slicks. We could have started with intermediate tyres, but we only have a limited number of this type available. Therefore, we did not want to use them today in case we might need them for the races. Nevertheless, in these few laps I managed to quickly get back into the groove for Magny-Cours.”
“The second session was much more usable, it was ok. However, I struggled to improve my lap time towards the end. In addition, our tyre choice has not yet been finalized. So, we will compare both options again tomorrow. We also had a few minor problems that cost us some time in the afternoon. Hopefully we can find a solution for that by tomorrow. Otherwise, I hope I can hold this position and that we manage to take points in the first race.”
#FRAWorldSBK - Combined Free Practice Times (FP1/FP2):
1 Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU / TUR / Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´37.138 (FP2)
2 Scott REDDING / GBR / Aruba.it Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R / 1´37.346 +0.208 (FP2
3 Jonathan REA / GBR / Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10R / 1´37.426 +0.288 (FP2)
15 #94 Jonas FOLGER / GER / Bonovo Action MGM Racing Performance / BMW M 1000 RR / 1´38.919 +1.781 (FP2)
#FRAWorldSBK - Time Schedule for Saturday September 4th (CET):
09:00 - 09:30 FP3
11:10 - 11:25 Superpole
14:00 Race 1 (21 Laps - 92.631 km)
