A dramatically different Magny-Cours greeted Voltcom Crescent Suzuki for the eni FIM Superbike World Championship’s penultimate round as rain continued falling throughout Sunday after two days of dry conditions at the French circuit.

A strong performance from Eugene Laverty on his Yoshimura-powered GSX-R saw the Irishman running sixth for the majority of race two before a crash at turn seven on the 14th lap brought an end to proceedings. Despite an early crash on lap four of the previous race, Laverty re-joined, hoping the conditions would prove advantageous to salvage points but a frustrating race saw him finish 19^th.

Having progressed well throughout the weekend, Alex Lowes retired his Suzuki machine on the second lap of the opening race after succumbing to the conditions early in the morning’s warm-up. The British rider was equally unlucky in the afternoon encounter as he fell at turn 12 at the end of lap two.

Eugene Laverty: “Two non-finishes in wet conditions really wasn’t part of the plan. It seems that whenever I crash in race one this year I follow it up with another crash in race two! I never give up though, and I’m determined to finish the season on a high note.”

Alex Lowes: “I’m really disappointed with my race day. We showed a lot of potential in qualifying on Saturday and I had good pace in the wet during the Warm Up but these conditions, and my lack of experience at Magny-Cours in the wet, cost us. There’s not a lot to take from it but we will come back fighting in Qatar."