Jerez (Spain) Valentin Debise (Yamaha R6 WSSP) 5th in race 1

The GMT94 rider, 3rd at “ideal time” during Friday’s practice session, started the qualifying session with confidence. With the second best top speed, his bike was working perfectly. But the front row eluded him because of a strategic error, which he recounted after qualifying on the 3rd row:
Valentin Debise: I tried to follow a good bike to set a good time. I found B.Sofuoglu and got into his wheel. Unfortunately he was more of a hindrance than a help. It’s a real shame because my bike works perfectly and I could have set a much better time than this 9th place, which won’t help me get on the podium.

Christophe Guyot: Valentin got off to a very good start and finished in 6th position. He then gave his all to move up to 4th place. He missed out by just a tenth of a second, but picked up the points for 5th place, which put him back up to 5th in the provisional world championship standings. I’m convinced that he can aim for a podium finish in tomorrow’s final race of the season.

In Superbike, Lorenzo Baldassarri (Yamaha R1) had one of his best races. He finished 12th, scoring 4 points, and hopes to break into the top 10 for race 2.