Kallio Racing Yamaha’s Isaac Viñales managed to clinch his first podium win in the FIM Supersport World Championship during the weekend. Viñales came through with a second place in the challenging race at Magny-Cours, France. GMT94 Yamaha’s Jules Cluzel, on the other hand, came in sixth place. He closed the gap in the championship standings to Bardahl Yamaha’s Randy Krummenacher and Federico Caricasulo. Both the riders, unfortunately, crashed out of today’s restarted race.
Photo credits: Yamaha Racing
“I’m so happy with this result, as there have been too many crashes this season. But today, I finally made the podium here at Magny-Cours, which is a new track for me. Overall, it’s been a hard weekend because of the changeable weather conditions we had in practice and qualifying. This meant we got almost no dry track time ahead of the race. As I said, I’m really happy to have been in the fight for the win until the end and to finally finish on the podium here in France,” says Viñales as quoted from Yamaha Racing.
Photo credits: Yamaha Racing
“The high-side at that corner was completely unexpected, as I really wasn’t on full attack. After a good start I was sat behind Kyle Smith. Like always, I was analysing the situation before launching an attack, but this time I didn’t get the chance. It was a strange crash and we will need to check the data to see exactly what happened.”
“Anyway, not the way I wanted to finish today, but I leave here still with a 10-point lead in the championship with just two races remaining, the first of which is in Argentina, which is a track I really like. It’s quite slippery there and conditions like that seem to suit me. Then there’s Qatar where I have a lot of experience, so I’m still feeling confident. All I have to do now is get properly fit, as I am still struggling with the knee injury sustained in Portimão. The cut on the knee has been stitched three times now, but because I’m using it, it keeps opening up again, which isn’t ideal. But, as I said, I’m still confident that, when we get to Argentina, I’ll be ready.”