Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) will take no further part in the Motul French Round after a crash in the Tissot Superpole Race. The defending Champion had been hoping to make early gains in the 10-lap race after starting from P17 for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship race, but a crash on Lap 1 at Turn 7, after making contact with the back of Bradley Ray's (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) machine, ended his charge. He was taken to the medical centre afterwards where he was diagnosed with a fracture to the eighth rib on his left side.

Bautista finished Friday’s action in seventh place in the dry weather, around seven tenths slower than pacesetter Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), and, with the rain falling on Saturday, the #1 was able to match that position in Free Practice 3. However, in the Tissot Superpole session, Bautista could only manage 17^th place. He bounced back in Race 1 to finish on the podium behind van der Mark after timing his switch to wet tyres perfectly. Following his Superpole Race crash, Bautista will not take part in Race 2.

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