Alcoba started his weekend strongly at a circuit he had never raced at before, earning himself a fifth-place ranking in the specialised Superpole Qualifying session. He was thus starting Race One from the centre of the second row of the grid.

Once the opening race started at the 4.411km-long Magny Cours circuit, Alcoba was a strong runner in the early laps on his Ninja ZX-6R 636. He held fourth place at the head of a pack chasing the leading trio for two laps, then he was in fifth place for the next three laps, before he was shuffled back to tenth place in the middle of the 19-lap race.

He recovered one more position before the penultimate lap and then made one final pass to secure eighth place at the flag. He scored eight championship points as a result. Jeremy is currently eighth in the overall championship standings, having scored points in every race bar one since he first joined WorldSSP this season.

Race Two on Sunday will have an earlier starting slot than the Saturday contest, at 14.00. Jeremy will be out to make some instant improvements again from the very start as he will now launch from 11th position due to the Race Two grid being based on Race One’s fastest individual race times.

Jeremy Alcoba stated: “My first race at Magny Cours was not as we planned, but it was OK. I am quite happy with the result because it is our first time here, and we are the only Kawasaki team. We are developing the bike and testing some new things. I expected more from myself because in the first part of the race we were in the front group. I tried to manage things to stay there, but the riding style is completely different from the other bikes. And, I made some mistakes that I paid for later. I was in the second group. The pace was not perfect for a top four finish, but we could fight for a top five. Tomorrow, we will have another chance and we will work until late tonight to try and improve. Thanks to everyone and see you tomorrow.”