Isaac Vinales Finds French Pace As WorldSBK Returns After The Summer Break

Posted September 12, 2023

The summer break is over. The TPR Team Pedercini Kawasaki squad were back in action last weekend in the latest round of the 2023 FIM Superbike World Championship with rider Isaac Vinales once again putting the team’s Kawasaki through its paces alongside the world’s best.

A steady start to the weekend saw the #32 rider close to the top twenty in Superpole and confident of three strong races at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours.

A small tech issue cut short Isaac’s opening race on Saturday but in extreme heat on Sunday he was unlucky to miss out on a points finish. Nineteenth in the ten lap Superpole ‘sprint’ race gave both him and the team optimism of a strong final race and Vinales did not disappoint crossing the line in sixteenth after an impressive final third of the twenty one lap encounter that was red flagged, restarted and ran over seventeen laps.

Once again the top independent Kawasaki rider and team combo, hopes and motivation is high for the next WorldSBK round at Motorland Aragon in just under a fortnight.

Isaac Vinales:

“It was a positive weekend overall. I had a good rhythm in Saturday’s opening race but had to retire after a small technical problem. On Sunday the Superpole race was good and I was able to understand some things and then in race two I was able to fight for the points. Our pace in the last part of the race was very good and to finish only 0.3s from P15 is a good motivation and gives us a lot of confidence for the final races.”

Lucio Pedercini – Team Principal:

“I am happy. We had a strange issue on Saturday in race one but these things can happen. Sunday was much better, especially in race two. With a full tank of fuel it was a little bit difficult for Isaac to stop the bike but in the second half of the race he made a good lap time, and consistently. He finished sixteenth in and was only 0.3s from the top fifteen. So close to the points and a really encouraging race for us as we head to Spain for his second home race next.”