Folger: "I told myself that if we could ride with intermediates, we can put on slicks too!"
German rookie Folger was one of two riders who took a slick tyre gamble and it paid off as he secured his best WorldSBK result to date
It was a challenging Sunday up and down the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship paddock with weather conditions forcing teams and riders to choose between Pirelli’s intermediate tyres for Race 2 or slicks for the 18-lap race for Race 2 at MotorLand Aragon for the season-opening Pirelli Aragon Round.
Jonas Folger (Bonovo MGM Action) was one of two riders to start Race 2 on slick tyres, with the other Scott Redding (Aruba.It Racing – Ducati), going on to win the race. Folger fought his way through the pack from 18th on the grid to finish in eighth in Race 2 as he secured his best result to date in WorldSBK.
Explaining why he decided to start on slick tyres, Folger said: 2To be honest, we only had the choice between rain and slick tyres because we prepared only these two tyres for the race. I’ve never used the intermediate tyre in my whole career. I told myself that if we could ride with intermediates, we can put on slicks too. We had nothing to lose. We were really struggling, so we said let’s put slicks and we have nothing to lose and, in the end, it was the best choice we could’ve made.”
Folger gained ten places in Race 2 as the slick tyres came towards the riders just a few laps into the race, allowing the German to claim his best WorldSBK result to date; his previous best coming being tenth during a wildcard appearance at least year’s Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, when he fought from the back of the grid to a top-ten finish in the Tissot Superpole Race after technical issues hampered him in Tissot Superpole.
Reacting to his eighth place, Folger said: “It was a really tough weekend for us, the first race on the BMW and on the track that is the most difficult for this bike, so we struggled a lot on Friday and also Saturday. The result was good to see, even though the conditions were good for us and I’m not sure whether we could have the pace on Sunday in fully dry conditions. I think we did a good job; we made many modifications and the pace was good.”
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