Sbk France, Michael van der Mark wins an elimination race-1. Danilo Petrucci on the podium

Michael van der Mark wins race-1 at Magny Cours

Under a pouring rain that affected the race from start to finish, Michael van der Mark è won race-1 of the French Round of the World Superbike Championship, a race orphaned by the leaderd of the rainbow standings Toprak Razgatlioglu and concluded by just twelve of the twenty-two riders who took to the track.

The Dutchman, teammate of the leader of the ranking, ended his winning escape riding the BMW with more than 8" of advantage over Alvaro Bautista (Ducati Aruba.it) and 24" over Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Barni Racing), first classified among the independent riders.

As for the other Italians, good fifth place for Andrea Iannone (Ducati GoEleven), eighth Andrea Locatelli (Yamaha Pata Prometeon), ninth Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Ducati Motocorsa), tenth Alessandro Delbianco (Yamaha GYTR GRT), eleventh Axel Bassani (Kawasaki Racing Team). Among the ten retirees is Nicolò Bulega, Bautista’s teammate, who crashed shortly after the start. The other riders knocked out are Jonathan Rea (Yamaha Pata Prometeon), Ivo Lopes (Honda Petronas), Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Racing Team), Philipp Oettl (Yamaha GMT94), Tarran Mackenzie (Honda Petronas), Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing), Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team), Remy Gardner (Yamaha GYRT GRT) and Sam Lowes (Ducati Elf Marc VDS).

In the overall standings, Razgatlioglu, despite not racing, retains the lead with 365 points, 92 ahead of Bulega and 122 ahead of Bautista. The first of the independents è Petrucci with 163 points, 23 ahead of Iannone and 118 ahead of Rinaldi. Sunday Superpole Race and race-2.