It was a rollercoaster Acerbis French Round for Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing Team) in the FIM Supersport World Championship. A Race 1 retirement, and a subsequent knock to his hand, was followed up with a podium in Race 2 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours as the Spaniard kept his grip on this year’s title race.
“IMMEDIATELY, I HAD A LOT OF PAIN THERE AND I WAS A BIT AFRAID ABOUT THE OUTCOME”
Starting from a lowly tenth on the grid in Race 1, his worst starting position of the year, Arenas looked to make quick progress and finished the opening lap in seventh place. By the end of Lap 2, he had gained another place, but it was Lap 3 where his race started to unravel. The Championship leader was under attack from Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) and, with the Kawasaki rider diving up the inside, the pair made contact. Alcoba was able to rejoin the race but Arenas retired and took a trip to the medical centre. He was diagnosed with a right hand contusion.
Discussing his Race 1 DNF and the knock to his hand, Arenas said: “I feel frustrated and disappointed, because once again we cannot finish a race due to another rider. It is what it is, that’s racing. I got hit super hard in my right hand from his bike. Immediately, I had a lot of pain there and I was a bit afraid about the outcome. Fortunately, it looks like everything is clear on my hand. We’ll need to work hard and see if we can ride in Race 2. What can I say? I think this corner is a very slow corner, strange and very tight, it’s not a normal corner. We arrive super fast there and I saw many incidents in the past at that corner.”
“EVERYTHING WENT WELL AND I WAS HAPPY TO BE ABLE TO RIDE FOR THEM AFTER ALL THE HARD WORK THEY DID”
After Sunday’s Warm Up session, the Spanish star was declared fit for Race 2. It was red flagged and restarted over a five-lap distance, and Arenas started the restarted race from third having climbed from 13th on the grid to run in a provisional podium spot when the red flags were shown. In the five lap sprint, Arenas initially got a good launch but the pace was red hot and he was under pressure from Can Oncu (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing), looking for a double in France, Roberto Garcia (GMT94 Yamaha) who was searching for a first race win and title rival Valentin Debise (EASTROC ZXMOTO Evan Bros Factory). Arenas was third heading into the Lycee Complex on the final lap, but a mistake from Oncu promoted him into second, to end a tricky weekend on the podium.
On his rostrum in Race 2, the #75 said: “I have mixed feelings. I’m really happy about the Sunday but, at the same time, I’m a little bit exhausted. It was not the best day or night. It’s okay, I’m looking forward to recovering, enjoying the result. On Saturday night, they stayed until late because the bike was on the floor with the engine in; they had to change the engine. It was a really long night for them. Everything went well and I was happy to be able to ride for them after all the hard work they did. It was one of the best results to have the podium. At the beginning, there weren’t many expectations, because I was not sure if I could ride properly; I had quite a lot of pain. In the end, it was okay and I could manage the best I could.”
THE CHAMPIONSHIP PICTURE
Despite not scoring in Race 1, the title fight is very much still in Arenas’s hands. He entered France with an 82-point lead over Debise, and left France with a 70-point margin over the French rider. Despite losing 12 points, Arenas can wrap up the title next time out at Cremona. He needs to leave the EICMA Italian Round with a 101-point lead over Debise (due to the #53 currently having more wins), so if he outscores him by 31 points, plus outscores Oncu by six points across the weekend and doesn’t lose any points to Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) across the two races, he will be Champion in Race 2.
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