Saturday afternoon brought the FIM Sportbike World Championship’s first points on offer from the Acerbis French Round, and Fenton Seabright (PHR Performance Triumph) took the lion’s share from Race 1. The win spells his first win at the World Championship level. David Salvador (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) crossed the line in P1, but after a penalty, he was shuffled to P2, ahead of his teammate Antonio Torres, who landed his third podium of the season at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours.

SALVADOR PENALISED TO P2

Salvador sprung off the line from pole position to take the holeshot, where he was tailed closely by fellow Kawasaki riders Artigas and Veneman.  The field was dialled in after the month-long summer break, with a compact group of nine riders tailing one another around a second and a half at most behind the leader by the end of Lap 4. He wrestled with his teammate Torres ,Seabright and Xavi Artigas (MTM Kawasaki) at the front over the race’s entire distance. The #38 and Seabright went head-to-head in the final lap for the race win as they tore into the final sector. The Spaniard made a move on Turn 13 to take the lead, before the Brit struck back on Turn 14. Salvador took the lead right back on Turn 15 and cruised across the line in P1; however, after the flag, the Spaniard was penalised to P2 for exceeding track limits on the final Turn 17. Seabright, as a result, was awarded the win for his maiden WorldSPB win. Despite missing the top step, the #38 builds his Riders’ Championship lead to a fitting 38 points.

TORRES TAKES A THIRD PODIUM

Spanish rider Torres didn’t quite have the speed to battle for the race win in the final laps, but Torres was in the podium fight all race and was rewarded with P3.  Behind him, Artigas took P4, clocking in two tenths off of podium pace and three tenths back from P1. Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) couldn’t quite defend his P2 starting position, falling farther back in the later laps, the Dutchman will have to wait until Sunday to look for his podium return. Ferre Fleerackers (Track & Trades Wixx Racing) finished back in the top six for the first time since his race-winning effort back at Assen; the Belgian will hope this is the start of a new positive stretch after finishing both races at Misano outside the top ten.

THOMPSON TAKES SEVENTH DESPITE PENALTY

Thompson was riding right around his P6 grid start position as the race was winding down, before he was penalised for Irresponsible Riding at Turn 13 of Lap 8, being forced to cede a position, dropping him back to P6. He later lost a spot to Fleerackers on the last lap, showing the Aussie to a P7 finish. Harrison Dessoy (PHR Performance Triumph) made it two Triumph machines in the top eight on the day, his first top-eight placement since his podium performance at Aragon. Alvaro Fuertes (Deza-Box 77 Racing Team) started from P7; however, he fell down to P11 on Lap 7. Fortunately for the #16, he improved two places over Lap 8 to finish in P9. Rounding out the top ten, Pepe Osuna (Deza-Box 77 Racing Team) took his fourth top ten of the season, holding off Matteo Vannucci (Revo-M2) in P11 to beat the Italian across the line by three tenths.

The top six from the WorldSPB Race 1: Full results here!

1. Fenton Seabright (PHR Performance Triumph)
2. David Salvador (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) +0.063s
3. Antonio Torres (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) +0.274s
4. Xavi Artigas (MTM Kawasaki) +0.478s
5. Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) +0.941s
6. Ferre Fleerackers (Track & Trades Wixx Racing) +1.745s

 Fastest lap: Fenton Seabright (Triumph) – 1’46.328s

WorldSPB returns on Sunday for their final race of the round! Tune in Live or OnDemand for the action with lights out at 15:15 (Local Time UTC+1) with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now 70% off!