Supersport Superpole at Magny-Cours: ZXMOTO 1-2 with Debise and Caricasulo

ZXMOTO one-two in World Supersport qualifying at Magny-Cours: Valentin Debise beats Federico Caricasulo to pole.

With the summer break over, World Supersport also returned to action at Magny-Cours today for the ninth of twelve rounds this season. At the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, the ZXMOTO 820RRs set the pace. At the end of a chaotic Tissot Superpole, local hero Valentin Debise (EASTROC ZXMOTO Evan Bros Factory) secured pole position for Race 1, edging out his teammate Federico Caricasulo and fellow Frenchman Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha), who completed the front row in that order.

In all likelihood, even he didn’t expect this pole. The home weekend hadn’t started in the best way for Valentin Debise, who went down twice at the iconic Adelaide hairpin. First in the opening free practice session, then with another tumble in the early stages of official qualifying—but he quickly found his way back. Returning to the track for the final 20 minutes of Superpole, the former Moto2 World Championship rider shot to the top of the timesheets at the flag with a 1'39"585. The Albi native led Federico Caricasulo by 59 thousandths, handing the EASTROC ZXMOTO Evan Bros Factory team a Friday double that never hurts.

ZXMOTO back with a vengeance after the tough Donington Park round, at the expense of the Yamahas. On the friendly ups and downs of Magny-Cours, a charging Lucas Mahias (who led long stretches of Superpole) ultimately had to settle for a spot on the front row. GMT94’s strong form is underscored by Roberto Garcia’s fourth time on a weekend where Christophe Guyot’s squad fields a third R9 entrusted to a standout wildcard: Mathieu Gines (30th), the new French Supersport Champion after several national titles in Superbike. Championship leader Albert Arenas was further back; he’ll start the fourth row with the tenth time, preceded by Corentin Perolari (7th), Italy’s Filippo Farioli (8th) and Tom Booth-Amos (9th), fresh off a double win at Donington.

An excellent sixth time for the returning Jorge Navarro (standing in for the injured Oli Bayliss at PTR Triumph Factory Racing), just behind Jeremy Alcoba on the Kawasaki Ninja 636 of the Kawasaki WorldSSP Team (Puccetti Racing), despite a crash mid-corner at Estoril. In a thrilling Superpole, besides the Spaniard (and poleman Debise), even Jaume Masia (18th), Leonardo Taccini (23rd) and Ana Carrasco (29th) sampled the asphalt. While Can Öncü went no better than 13th, hampered by a technical issue on his Yamaha R9, a much-anticipated contender like Philipp Öttl will be forced to start from the back of the grid after a massive spill in the opening moments of the session. A comeback Race 1 awaits the Ducati rider, with lights out scheduled for 14:00.