IT FELT MORE like July in Jerez or Imola rather than September in the centre of France, but Magny Cours was a concrete stovetop for everyone; officials, fans and in particular the riders.
Uncertainty reigned and made for big entertainment if not race-long challenges to what were two winners across three WorldSBK races. In Superpole qualifying, history was made for Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) as he took his first-ever pole and the first for an American since John Hopkins did it at Silverstone in 2011 on a Suzuki. Gerloff set a new track best of 1m35.453s on his way to pole, with Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati) just behind him and his Ducati teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi in third place.
The first race build up was suddenly deflated, even in the warm and generous sunshine, as a technical problem with a safety vehicle saw the race start delayed and then cut
