Superbike arrives in France for the season's penultimate race

Superbike's first race on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya ended with a victory and a podium for Chaz Davies and just one podium for Scott Redding. Unfortunately, the English rider's weekend didn't go as well as planned, as he struggled with setting issues that got worse on Sunday. The distance that now separates him from the top of the leaderboard is growing, and so it's absolutely necessary for him to go on the attack at Magny Cours to keep the hopes of final victory alive. Making things even more complicated for Scott is the fact that it will be the first time with a Superbike on the French circuit.

Chaz Davies, on the ot her hand, comes out of the round at Catalonia absolutely chuffed with Sunday's fantastic victory. The Welshman seems to have finally managed to fully sync with the Panigale V4 R, riding like we haven't seen in a long time and handling the corners perfectly. And Magny Cours is one of Chaz's favourite tracks, so we can expect another weekend on top, maybe even helping Scott in the standings.

Michael Rinaldi's performance is no longer big news, and in Barcelona he demonstrated once again that he has the right stuff, battling it out with the fastest riders. Unfortunately on Sunday he was forced out of the race by a mechanical issue just as he was solidifying his position on the podium. Michael knows Magny Cours very well and his desire for payback will get him into the positions that count.

So everyone's ready to cheer on Ducati starting with Race 1 on Saturday, supporting Scott, Chaz, Michael and the other riders on the Panigale V4 R bikes with cries of Forza Ducati!