Aegerter returns to podium in red flagged first World Supersport race in France, Taccini scores points

In the first World Supersport race at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Dominique Aegerter finished on the podium. The Swiss rider was fighting for the win but the race was red flagged because of an incident and he finished third, Leonardo Taccini scored points again by finishing fourteenth.

This weekend the seventh round of the FIM Supersport World Championship is being held at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in France. The weather conditions on Friday were very changeable during the two free practice sessions so the riders could hardly do laps on slicks and mainly rode on rain tyres on a half wet / half dry track. Dominique Aegerter was in third place after the two free practices on Friday, Leonardo Taccini clocked the 29th lap time.

The conditions in the Superpole session were not ideal either with Aegerter qualifying fifth for this weekend’s two races and Taccini having to start from 21st in both races.

In the first World Supersport race on Saturday afternoon Aegerter lost a place at the start but quickly fought his way back to the front. The Swiss rider was in a tough battle but did not give up. Halfway through the race he moved up to third place and set the fastest lap of the race, closing the gap to the two riders ahead. However, the race then ended prematurely due to a red flag caused by an incident further back. The riders had just completed two-thirds of the race distance and was therefore not restarted, the riders finished in the order they crossed the finish line for the last time.

Leonardo Taccini also started from 21st on the grid and quickly made up ground. The Italian set an impressive pace and made up a lot of places, reaching the fourteenth position by lap eight. He held this position until the red flag and scored two more World Championship points for Ten Kate Racing.

Dominique Aegerter:“I am happy to be on the podium again. Today’s race was quite tricky and we had a big fight in the first couple of laps. I couldn’t overtake the other riders as quickly as I would have liked and after twelve laps the race was red flagged, I hope everyone involved is okay. I was expecting to restart and race until the chequered flag but we just passed the two-thirds mark. Luckily we have another chance tomorrow and I hope to be able to fight for a great result. It was good to have some dry weather today after yesterday’s rain, let’s hope it will be the same tomorrow. I want to thank the Ten Kate Racing team for giving me a very competitive bike.”

Leonardo Taccini:“The race was quite good today, we made a good step. Now I think we can find some more for tomorrow’s race. I am quite happy with my progression throughout the race and with the way we have worked together, although I think we can be in a better position. I am looking forward to race again tomorrow.”

Kervin Bos – Ten Kate Racing team manager:“Leonardo definitely did his best race of the year, the difference to the winner is the smallest so far. He can certainly be proud and satisfied after riding such a race and finishing in the points. A positive result and I hope he can continue this upward trend.

Dominique finished on the podium again and that is excellent. Of course you want to win but that isn’t always possible, it’s been a very strange week for him riding in MotoE and having the MotoGP test. The rain on Friday didn’t make it any easier and he just missed out on a lot of laps. He had just rode the fastest lap when the red flag was waved so the potential is definitely there, I expect him to make another big step tomorrow. We are looking forward to attacking tomorrow, that’s what’s in our nature.”

Aegerter stamps authority on World Supersport with Race 2 victory in Magny-Cours

Dominique Aegerter won the second World Supersport race at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours on Sunday afternoon. The Swiss rider came back strongly after a difficult opening phase and managed to win the race after an intense battle with title rival Lorenzo Baldassarri. Leonardo Taccini did not finish the race due to technical problems.

The second World Supersport race of the weekend at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours started Sunday afternoon at 12:30 in sunny conditions. Dominique Aegerter started well but lost a few places and had a tough job starting from eighth position.

The Swiss rider was up for the challenge and set a high pace, quickly making up places. By the thirteenth lap, Aegerter was already on the podium but the reigning world champion wanted more. On the sixteenth lap, he took over the lead for the first time and tried to close a gap on the competition.

However, the pressure on Aegerter remained high and the Swiss had to defend himself with all his power. It came down to a duel with title rival Lorenzo Baldassarri on the final lap but the Italian made a mistake and crashed. Aegerter kept pushing and eventually crossed the line as the winner, scoring important points for the championship. The Ten Kate Racing rider now has a total of 286 points to his name and a nineteen-point lead.

On the other side of the pit box it was a day to forget for Leonardo Taccini. In the warm-up session he was side-lined with technical problems after which the Ten Kate Racing team worked hard to get the bike ready for the race again. The Italian started the race well and managed to make up a few places before the technical problems reappeared and he was forced to put the Yamaha YZF-R6 in the pit box. Taccini is now 21st in the championship with 22 points.

Dominique Aegerter: “It was a hard race, for sure my fifth place on the starting grid was not optimal. Yesterday my first laps were not that good, today it was a bit better. After the start I was pushed wide by other riders and I fell back to the 8^th position. Then I saw that the leaders were very fast so my goal was to reach them as soon as possible. Their pace was very good and I saw I had a gap of three seconds, I managed to close it and had a really good pace. I never gave up and when I caught them I was also able to overtake them.

Finally I was able to win the race, which is very important for me after a bit of a strange race yesterday and after Most where we weren’t able to score points. The most important thing is that we extended the lead in the championship again and Ten Kate Racing did a great job this weekend after limited track time on Friday. Now I need some days to recover after a very busy period but we will be back stronger again in Barcelona.”

Leonardo Taccini: “It is what it is. I am very happy that the team managed repair the bike after the warm-up. It was already a miracle that I was on the grid for Race 2 and we tried our best, but this is part of racing. We were quite fast this weekend and we learned a lot, I think we made a decent step which we already showed yesterday in the first race. Unfortunately we haven’t shown our full potential but we will surely try again in Barcelona.”

Kervin Bos – Ten Kate Racing team manager: “Unbelievable, what a race. This shows the mentality of Dominique and the team. We knew this was in the cards but looking back now we can honestly say that Dominique always needs 25 to 30 laps on Friday to be fast. After last week winning the MotoE World Cup and having a MotoGP test he arrived in Magny-Cours quite emotional and a bit confused, in the positive sense of course because what he has shown lately is a childhood dream. On top of that we had rain on Friday and when you add all that up it’s not surprising that you get a challenging Saturday.

As we know Dominique, he built up his race on Saturday and at the moment he really wanted to get going the red flag came. Then you have to deal with it, and sometimes that is difficult, but it does not stop us from fighting back. We were able to dot the i’s and cross the t’s on Sunday and in the warm-up we already knew we were on the right track. We leave here with a 19-point lead and that’s fantastic.

For Leonardo it was a very cruel day and we apologize that this happened. It doesn’t suit Ten Kate Racing that a rider drops out with a technical problem. The team worked miracles to get the bike ready for the race but in the end he could not finish it. We feel very bad about it, also for Leonardo, because he had a good weekend. We will be back in Barcelona to make the most of it. It will be a special weekend with the presentation of our Motonext project and we can already confirm that both Aegerter and Taccini will ride something very special. This proves that Ten Kate Racing not only wants to be leading in tuning but also in innovation.”

The next round of the FIM Supersport World Championship will be held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 23-25 September. Besides the track activities of Ten Kate Racing, the Motonext project will also be officially presented in Barcelona on Friday evening, the 23^rd of September.