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Alvaro Bautista out of French WorldSKBK Race 2 after Superpole Race crash | World Superbikes
Alvaro Bautista will not take part in Race 2 at this weekend’s French WorldSBK having been declared unfit.
Bautista has been diagnosed with a left ribcage fracture after crashing on the first lap of the Superpole Race. More specifically, it’s the eighth rib in his left ribcage that is the injury for Bautista.
The Spaniard – who finished second in Race 1 on Saturday, reducing his championship points deficit to Toprak Razgatlioglu to 122 points – was trying to make his way through from 16th on the grid in the Superpole Race, with the aim of securing a top-nine grid position for Race 2 to give him a better chance of winning the final full-length race of the weekend.
However, while trying to pass Tarran Mackenzie at turn six on lap one of the Superpole Race, Bautista’s Ducati was unstable at the rear, and he had to release the brake. He touched the back of Bradley Ray as he fell, and lost his visor as he tumbled through the gravel.
Bautista is the third of WorldSBK’s big three names to have been ruled out this weekend. Toprak Razgatlioglu crashed in FP2 on Friday afternoon, suffering a collapsed lung as he hit a barrier on the inside of the final corner.
Then, in Race 1, Jonathan Rea crashed at the final chicane on the first lap, and suffered a deep wound and a fracture in his right thumb. Overnight surgery for Rea was required to address the wound, and an assessment back at Magny-Cours on Sunday morning saw him declared unfit.
