It was under mild weather worthy of the south of Spain that the first round of the 2024 Spanish Superbike championship took place this weekend.

Freshly arrived in the Gil Motor Sport workshops, the brand new 2024 BMW M1000RR of rider Christophe Ponsson made its first laps during the 4 free sessions on Thursday and Friday without a hitch.

Each free session allowed technical adjustments to improve times.

In the qualifying session on Saturday morning which lasted barely 30 minutes, on his 3rd lap the Gil Motor Sport rider crashed in the fastest corner of the circuit.

The race management decides to put up a red flag and then, as best they can, with the help of the track marshals, the Gil Motor Sport rider manages to return to the pits. A few minutes after returning to the pits, the track is reopened for all the competitors, except Christophe Ponsson who is waiting for his technical team to rebuild a bike for him to allow him to set a time so as not to start too far on the starting grid. .

It was barely 5 minutes before the end of the qualifying session that rider Christophe Ponsson was able to return to the track, who therefore found himself with the 21st time of the session.

In barely 5 minutes, Christophe Ponsson will have just enough time to complete a warm-up lap to check that the repairs allow him to attempt 2 fast laps to set a time putting him back in an honorable place on the starting grid.

At the end of these 2 fast laps, Christophe will finally obtain the 13th best time of this session and will therefore start 13th on the starting grid for the first race of the same day.

Unfortunately, this fall and the time spent in the pits for repairs deprived the Gil Motor Sport rider of using his qualifying tire which usually allows riders over one or two laps maximum to considerably improve their time.

Race 1 on Saturday :

The rider Christophe Ponsson made an excellent start and at the end of the first lap found himself in 10th position.

By dint of whipping, the Gil Motor Sport rider is in 7th position arriving in the very last corner of the circuit just before the finish line when at his final braking he had to pull straight on due to overheating of its brake temperature.

The two competitors behind him ask for no less to pass him and as a result Christophe will finish the race in 9th position.

During the debriefing with his technicians, Christophe raises some problems with the bike, certainly due to the crash in the morning qualifying session.

Saturday after race 1 :

The technical team dismantles the bike in search of the problem(s) which penalized the rider Christophe Ponsson during this first race.

Very quickly the technicians found the after-effects of the morning’s fall, including the fork T which was twisted.

Race 2 on Sunday :

Even if the Gil Motor Sport technical team did a very good job to get his bike back in shape for this 2nd race, the Gil Motor Sport rider will have to validate the repairs during the race if he was unable to do so during the race. of a Warm up, which was deleted by the promoters of the Championship.

It was 30° at the time of departure which went without incident. At the end of the first lap the Gil Motor Sport rider positioned himself in 8th place and in the middle of the race even managed to take 7th position until the penultimate lap where he was unable to do anything due to good wear and tear. advance of his rear tire, facing the attack of the Japanese rider and his Honda.

In the end, rider Christophe Ponsson will finish 8th in this 2nd race.

Conclusion :

Disappointment because far from the objective, but taking into account the circumstances, the team is satisfied with a 9th and 8th place.

The Gil Motor Sport team will work to prepare for the next race at the Cheste circuit in Valencia from May 30 to June 2.