After Navarra, the World Supersport Championship was back on track at Magny-Cours, in surprisingly perfect weather. Maria Herrera - who has recovered from an injury - gained positions in both races.
Tissot Superpole
Dominique Aegerter was the fastest rider after combined practice.
In the Tissot Superpole session, Oettl was the first one to move into provisional pole with a 1:41.474, ahead of Aegerter. Spanish female rider Maria Herrera's time was quick enough for P26. On top of the timing screen Tuuli, Aegerter, and Bernardi alternated in provisional pole - with the man from San Marino ultimately taking pole position. During the session, Montero-Huerta and Oettl crashed.
Dominique Aegerter was pleased with his P2 - the Swiss' championship rival Odendaal was only 14th. The last man on the front row was Tuuli. With a 1:42.955 - Maria Herrera was 27th fastest.
Race 1
Aegerter went into the lead after the start and Tuuli, who started third, unfortunately suffered from mechanical problems. Bernardi was able to take back the lead on the straight - before a big accident happened: Sancho-Martinez made contact with Fabrizio, who was pushed off the track and crashed. His bike flew into the air and was severely damaged. This incident brought out a red flag, the first one of this weekend in the category.
The stewards decided to shorten the race to 12 laps. The red flag was lucky for Tuuli - his bike was repaired, and he could go back racing, albeit from the pitlane. When the riders lined up on the grid to start the warm-up lap, Debis stalled and got hit by Falcone. Fortunately, both walked away unharmed.
When the restart finally took place, Aegerter got away very well, just like Manuel Gonzalez and local hero Jules Cluzel. The pole sitter dropped to P4, and Maria Herrera remained in 27th position.
Bergman from Wójcik Racing crashed and almost got run over by another rider. Can Oncu was fighting his way up the order to P5 but got picked up by Bernardi again. Steven Odendaal moved from P13 to P6.
Manuel Gonzalez was overtaken by Bernardi and Oettl, while Cluzel moved into second place when Dominique Aegerter was building an advantage over the others. Bernardi dropped back and both Gonzalez and Odendaal managed to go through.
Takala had a very dangerous fall; he and his bike slid through the chicane and two riders almost run over him, but fortunately, they managed to avoid him. Steven Odendaal moved up to a podium position, gaining ten places from the start of the race. He would also overtake Cluzel.
Aegerter won with a 1.3 second lead over his championship rival Steven Odendaal. Jules Cluzel crossed the line in third place. Maria Herrera was 21st, gaining 6 places from her starting position.
Race 2
Bernardi once again started from pole, with Herrera this time lining up in P25. The man from San Marino had a good start - just like Herrera - who jumped into 21st position.
Odendaal didn't have a rocket start like on Saturday and he moved to P11. Aegerter was hot on the heels of Bernardi, with Cluzel close behind them. Manuel Gonzalez managed to overtake the Frenchman but quickly dropped to fourth place again - the same happened to Aegerter in front.
Bernardi fell at the chicane and Aegerter and Cluzel behind couldn't slow down and rode into his bike, also falling. Bernardi took a hit on his neck and back by Aegerter's bike, with Cluzel probably also hit by the pole sitter's bike. The race was red-flagged.
The Swiss managed to stand on his feet, get back on his bike and return to the pitlane. The other two riders, on the other hand, required assistance and were both taken to the medical center and, in the end, to the hospital. They were conscious but suffered from upper-body injuries.
Aegerter managed to put himself in the right mind zone and made a great restart, taking the lead of the race by surviving to Tuuli and Gonzalez's attack. Oncu got into third place, behind Gonzalez in second. The young Spaniard then took the lead at Nurburgring corner, but after few moments, Aegerter was back on top.
Maria Herrera continued a positive run and, when Takala crashed, she was promoted into the top-20.
The last lap was pure excitement - Gonzalez went into the lead, but Aegerter took it back, before they swapped positions again at the 180 corner: that would remain the winning overtake. Can Oncu crossed the line in P3.
Maria Herrera finished Race 2 in 19th place, again gaining six positions.
The next round will be at Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona.
