Friday at the Pirelli French Round, the seventh round of the 2022 WorldSBK season, was compromised by intermittent rain that fell during FP1: not only it made it difficult to extract useful information, but it also allowed the riders to get back to lap in completely wet conditions in FP2.
Therefore, it was a rather complicated free practice for Alvaro Bautista and Michael Rinaldi (fourth and fifth respectively in FP2), especially ahead of a weekend in which the weather conditions, although always difficult to predict at the Magny Cours circuit, seem to involve dry races.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #19)
“I can say it was a positive day, both because we got back to work on the bike and above all because from a physical point of view, I felt comfortable straight away. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow but we have to be ready for all situations. The crash? Nothing serious and no consequences for me or the bike”.
Michael Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #21)
“It was a peculiar Friday. This morning we only had two dry laps then it started raining. We weren’t able to collect much data but we’re all in the same condition. We’ll try again tomorrow, hoping for weather conditions that allow us to work in one direction”.
- WorldSSP
Nicolò Bulega also had to contend with the weather; still, he managed to get to grips with the circuit on which he rode for the first time today, with the Ducati Panigale V2 in WorldSSP configuration.
Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WSSP #11)
“We found the typical weather of this area, which alternates between rain and sun and doesn’t make it easy to lap consistently. We did a few laps this morning and in the afternoon with the track semi-wet and then when the track dried out at the end of FP2, we were already setting good lap times on slick tires. It was the first time for me at Magny Cours and I am happy because I was fast right away”.
