The 7th round of the Superbike World Championship took place in the centre-north of Spain on the Navarra circuit, which hosted the WorldSBK for the first time from 19 to 22 August under 100% sun and high heat.

It is with a great desire to continue the good work done in the Czech Republic that the technical team and driver Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha arrive in Los Arcos where the Navarra circuit sits. A pretty Spanish village crossed daily by the pilgrims of Santiago de Compostela.

Contrary to the other drivers, Christophe Ponsson unfortunately did not participate in the two days of tests last June organized at the circuit of Navarra. It is with a clear disadvantage that the Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha team is competing on this new WorldSBK circuit.

Superpole Qualification:

This is the 34th pole position of his career in the six-time Superbike World Champion J. Rea who clocked a time of 1:36.122 with his Kawasaki. Among the Yamaha Officials, A. Locatelli has the 4th fastest time and his teammate T. Razgatlioglu the 8th. Japanese Yamaha Factory driver K. Nozane clocked the 15th time in this qualifying session. The Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha driver will start from 19th place on the starting grid during the Navarre weekend races.

Race 1:

Very good start for the Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha driver, as he gains two places which he will keep during the first three laps before the Honda driver, the Argentine L. Mercado, In the fourth lap, Christophe Ponsson’s bike crashed into the back of the French Yamaha. In the gravel bin, bravely, Christophe Ponsson lifts his bike and, after having checked his condition, decides to leave again.
Good last with 31 seconds of delay on the pilot who precedes him, suffice to say that the mass is said. However, it was without counting on the determination of the driver Christophe Ponsson who made a superb comeback to pass the competitors up to take the point of the 15th place of this 1st round of the weekend. The winner of this first race is the official Ducati S. Redding driver with a time of 1’37.601.

Superpole Race:

Again, S. Redding with his Ducati won the Tissot Superpole Race with the fastest time of the race in 1:37.065. Christophe Ponsson is 17th in this Superpole race, his best time allows him to be 1’853 seconds behind the English winner, 1’661 second behind the official Yamaha T. Razgatlioglu who is on the 3rd step of the podium, 1’397 seconds behind the other official Yamaha A. Locatelli 4th of this race, then 0’491 seconds behind the Yamaha Factory driver, Japan’s K. Nozane.
Very good race of the driver Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha which gradually reduces the gaps on the leading drivers. The technical changes that were made to the bike at the end of Race 1 were immediately successful and show that the whole team is working in the right direction. It is the best Superpole Course by Christophe Ponsson since the beginning of the season.

Race 2:

Excellent start again from Christophe Ponsson with his Yamaha since he goes from 19th place on the starting grid to 15th position at the end of the 1st lap, then he will occupy this position until the 14th lap where he will pass 14th. The Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha driver is a real metronome in his times and his consistency will reward him since in the final lap, Christophe Ponsson takes 13th position in the final classification of the race.
The winner is the official Yamaha T. Razgatlioglu rider with the best time of the race in 1’37.909. Christophe Ponsson’s time of reference puts him 2’043 seconds behind the winner T. Razgatlioglu and 1’798 seconds from the 4th of the race, the official Yamaha A. Locatelli.

Conclusion of the weekend:

Overall it’s a very good weekend for the whole Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha team since its driver Christophe Ponsson keeps narrowing the gaps with the fastest drivers and finishes in the points of both races.

Next home race for our French driver Christophe Ponsson from 2 to 5 September at the Nevers Magny-Cours circuit.