The EAB Racing Team and Glenn van Straalen were in action at the Magny-Cours circuit in France during the weekend of September 8 to 10. The second half of the World Supersport season kicked off here after the summer break. Unfortunately, luck was not on the team’s side during the race weekend. We had to retire early in the first race due to technical problems and crosses the finish line in thirteenth the second race.
The Supersport World Championship season resumed on a tropically warm Magny-Cours after a six-week summer break. Both team and rider were keen to start the second part well. However, things did not go exactly as the Dutch duo wanted. During the free practice sessions on Friday, Glenn starts well, he feels strong on the Yamaha YZF-R6 and sets good times. Unfortunately he had a crash later in the session. During the second free practice session, Glenn had another crash, but luckily he was unhurt. This does not make it an ideal opening day, which he ends in fifteenth place.
The Superpole session on Saturday morning went better for the 22-year-old Dutchman. He rides many laps and gains more confidence in the bike. He managed to qualify in fifteenth place. Not quite the starting position he had hoped for. However, the times were close together, which meant that anything was possible in the races.
On Saturday afternoon the lights went green for the first race of the weekend. Glenn got off to a good start and managed to gain some positions in the first few corners. It was then difficult to follow the pace of the riders in front of him and he ended up riding alone. Unfortunately, Glenn faced a technical problem halfway through the race, forcing him to retire early.
During the second race on Sunday it was also difficult for Glenn. In the first laps of the race he came in traffic in the Adelaide hairpin, in which he lost a lot of time and positions. Then it was not easy to make the way forward and it was a long race for the young Dutchman. Unfortunately, there was no more than thirteenth place.
Glenn: “It was a difficult weekend in Magny-Cours. During the free practice on Friday we had bad luck with two crashes. As a result, we missed valuable riding time. I felt good in the Superpole, but there was no more than fifteenth starting place. Unfortunately, in the first race we had to deal with technical problems, which meant we had to end the race early. We knew it would be a difficult second race. We had not been able to build up the right rhythm during the weekend due to the various problems. As a result we were not able to complete enough laps, which ultimately resulted in a difficult weekend. This is certainly not where we want and should be. I am looking forward to Aragon in two weeks. Thanks to the EAB Racing Team for the weekend.”
In two weeks Glenn will be back on the bike. Then we are at the Motorland Aragon in Spain for the tenth race of the World Supersport Championship. This will be held on the weekend of September 22 to 24.