Frenchman Florian Marino (Intermoto Ponyexpres Kawasaki) is getting ready to race in front of his home crowd at Magny-Cours in about two weeks time. The 21 year old Frenchman is aiming to secure the runner-up spot in this year’s Supersport World Championship, after losing the opportunity to fight for the title due to some difficult performances halfway through the season.

“The season started off really well” said Florian Marino “but we struggled a bit with the set-up of the bike halfway through the year as we just went in the wrong direction. During the two month summer break me and the team had a lot of time to think and we decided to reset things and I managed to find the right feeling again with the ZX-6R. It was good to fight again at the front.”

“For me and the hard work done by the team so far” Marino continued, “I will do my best to finish in the runner-up spot this year. I think we can do it. Hopefully I will be able to fight at the front and to take my first win of the season. I have raced many times at Magny-Cours before but I can’t say that it’s a track that suits my style perfectly. It is my home round so with my determination and motivation I think I will be able to race for the win.”

The former STK600 runner up made his Moto2 World Championship debut last weekend by replacing the injured Simone Corsi in the NGM Forward Racing Team. “For me it was a great opportunity to see how it is like in Moto2” he added. “Unfortunately in the first day the conditions were very difficult, but from Saturday onwards I could really get to grips with the bike and I realised how different it is compared to what I’m used to. The bike, the chassis and the tyres are completely different. I have learned a lot from this experience but at the moment nothing is planned for my future.”