Rain-struck first day at the French racetrack in Magny-Cours
The conditions on the opening day of the eleventh round of the FIM MOTUL Superbike world championship at the Neveres circuit in Magny-Cours, France were not what Markus Reiterberger and the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team had hoped for. Heavy rain did not make it easy for the free practice sessions on day one. After some adjustment-problems in the morning, the 25-years-old was able to lead the session in the afternoon and eventually finished the second free practice in seventh position.
Nevertheless Reiti was not happy with the result of day one in middle France, but the team has collected important data in wet conditions with the BMW S 1000 RR and was also able to get more information for dry sessions and they will continue with the progress in the third free practice tomorrrow morning.
Markus Reiterberger: „Today was not an easy day. It was quite cold in Magny-Cours and it rained the whole day, also in the afternoon. I had my difficulties with the bike and I was not able to build up a good feeling. I did not have confidence for the rear at all, as it was sliding a lot. It was not easy to ride. My gap to the lead was too big during the first free practice. After the track dried off, there was no grip to improve any further. We made some changes on the bike for the second free practice and were able to solve some of the problems. When it was raining more heavy and only five of us were out on track, I was leading the session. When the others came out on track too, I dropped to seventh position. I was not that far away with my 58-times, but four seconds behind the lead is too much. But nevertheless we learned quite some things about the bike in wet and also dry conditions and we will continue from there tomorrow.“