Ducati Sporting Club UK > News Items > Ducati Press Releases > Bulega second and Bautista seventh at the end of free practice for French Round. Fifth Pole Position for Huertas in WorldSSP

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World Superbike | 2024 | R8 | Magny-Cours (France) | Friday 6 September 2024

Bulega second and Bautista seventh at the end of free practice for French Round. Fifth Pole Position for Huertas in WorldSSP

Free practice for the French Round, the eighth round of the 2024 WorldSBK season, ended with Nicolò Bulega second and Alvaro Bautista seventh.

It was an intense Friday for the two Aruba.it Racing - Ducati team riders, who worked both on the set-up of their Ducati Panigale V4R machines and the different tyre solutions.

After the fourth fastest time in the morning, Bulega's feeling improved greatly in FP2, allowing the Italian rider to lower his lap time by almost nine-tenths (1'36.159), ending Friday in second position.

Seventh fastest time (1'30.768) for Alvaro Bautista, who as usual concentrated on his race pace.

Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati #11)
‘I'm satisfied with how things went today also because I had never ridden the Panigale V4R at this circuit before. The feeling was good right from the morning, and we did a great job with the team, managing to improve in FP2. I'm curious to see what the weather will be like tomorrow, but I feel confident in both dry and wet conditions.’

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati #1)
‘It was a positive day when we worked well in different directions, especially on tyre choice. Even in the afternoon I found a good feeling, concentrating on the race pace as we do every Friday’.

WorldSSP

Fifth pole position of the season for Adrian Huertas and the Ducati Panigale V2 of the Aruba Racing WSSP team. After finishing second in the morning's Fp1, the Spanish rider pushed hard in the afternoon, setting the fastest lap with a time of 1'39.705.

Adrian Huertas (Aruba Racing WSSP #99)
‘I am delighted because we got the weekend off to the right start. Starting on pole position is always a great satisfaction, but at the same time, we know perfectly well that the first box on the grid does not give any points for the classification. We are ready for tomorrow.