Magny-Cours WorldSBK Superpole | Garrett Gerloff secures a career first pole position in France
09/09/2023 05:42 AM
After performing well throughout the three practice sessions this weekend Garrett Gerloff carried his form over into qualifying and put his BMW on pole.
The Texan rider has looked like a different ride this weekend in France after the summer break. Garrett Gerloff has put together a consistent weekend so far after finishing second in all practice sessions and then going one better in qualifying to put his BMW at the front of the grid.
In his fourth season in WorldSBK Garrett Gerloff finally claims his first pole position, but will be joined on the front row by some formidable foe. The 2022 WorldSBK Champion, Alvaro Bautista, could only manage to qualify in second place on the grid.
Then in third place was Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who is now fighting for his WorldSBK future. The Italian rider is out of the Racing - Ducati squad for 2024 so is now looking for a new ride.
Two former WorldSBK Champions headed the second row with Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea qualifying in fourth and fifth place on the grid.
Loris Baz completed a good qualifying for the Bonovo BMW team after he put his BMW in sixth place on the grid. Meaning both satellite BMW bikes out-qualified the full factory ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK bikes.
Italian rider, Andrea Locatelli, put his Yamaha on the third row as he qualified in seventh place. Joining him on the third row will be Alex Lowes and Danilo Petrucci.
Then rounding out the top ten will be Scott Redding, who crashed while following Gerloff on the session.
Bradley Ray managed to come back from some issues in FP3 and put his Yamaha 17th on the grid for the race later on today.
| 2023 French WorldSBK | Magny-Cours | Superpole Results | Rd. 9 of 12] | |||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Motorcycle | Lap |
| 1 | Garrett Gerloff | USA | Bonovo Racing | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 35.453 |
| 2 | Alvaro Bautista | ESP | Aruba Ducati | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 35.512 |
| 3 | Michael Ruben Rinaldi | ITA | Aruba Ducati | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 35.820 |
| 4 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | Pata Crescent Racing | Yamaha R1 | 1m 35.868 |
| 5 | Jonathan Rea | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 35.959 |
| 6 | Loris Baz | FRA | Bonovo Racing | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 36.004 |
| 7 | Andrea Locatelli | ITA | Pata Crescent Racing | Yamaha R1 | 1m 36.078 |
| 8 | Alex Lowes | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 36.085 |
| 9 | Danilo Petrucci | ITA | Barni Spark Racing | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 36.102 |
| 10 | Scott Redding | GBR | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 36.217 |
| 11 | Philipp Oettl | GER | Go Eleven | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 36.493 |
| 12 | Dominique Aegerter | SUI | GYTR GRT | Yamaha R1 | 1m 36.557 |
| 13 | Michael van der Mark | NED | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 36.596 |
| 14 | Iker Lecuona | ESP | Team HRC | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 36.667 |
| 15 | Remy Gardner | AUS | GYTR GRT | Yamaha R1 | 1m 36.706 |
| 16 | Xavi Vierge | ESP | Team HRC | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 36.710 |
| 17 | Bradley Ray | GBR | Motoxracing | Yamaha R1 | 1m 36.961 |
| 18 | Lucas Mahias | FRA | Puccetti Racing | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 37.236 |
| 19 | Axel Bassani | ITA | Motocorsa Racing | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 37.384 |
| 20 | Lorenzo Baldassarri | ITA | GMT 94 | Yamaha R1 | 1m 37.413 |
| 21 | Hannes Soomer | EST | MIE Racing | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 37.692 |
| 22 | Hafizh Syahrin | MAL | MIE Racing | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 38.132 |
| 23 | Isaac Vinales | ESP | TPR by Vinales Racing | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 38.210 |
| 24 | Oliver Konig | CZE | Orelac Racing | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 39.051 |
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