Another front running weekend in France for Chris Clark

Chris Clark’s run of form in the 2026 Yamaha R3 BLU CRU World Cup continued in the most recent round of the series at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in France, the American teenager narrowly missing the podium in both nine lap races at the 2.7-mile circuit situated a couple of hours south of the French capital, Paris.

A strong Free Practice on Friday morning set the #5 rider up for another great weekend. Chris qualified eighth after a last lap improvement in Superpole ensured a third row of the grid start for Saturday’s opening encounter.

Hitting the front almost immediately, Chris wasted no time dictating the pace in race one, responding immediately to every attempt by his rivals to push him back into the pack. The nature of the Magny-Cours circuit makes it almost impossible for anyone to break away and so it all came down to a last lap fight for glory. As the leading group of more than a dozen riders fanned out as they braked for the hairpin Chris made his move and after a bit of elbow bashing, he crossed the line eighth.

Sunday saw Chris once again line up on the third row of the grid and as he had demonstrated twenty-four hours earlier, it was another aggressive opening couple of laps that once again saw him leading the tightly bunched pack. With overtakes happening at every turn the final lap once again proved decisive – Chris taking the chequered flag fourth less than 0.7s from the win.

The results mean Chris leaves the French round equal fourth in the championship standings – only twenty-seven points behind the leader – with four races remaining.

The penultimate round of the series takes place at the Cremona circuit in Italy in a couple of weeks.

Chris Clark:

“After a good qualifying (P8), I started seventh on the grid after one rider had a penalty. I made a good start in race one and made my way into the lead after a couple of corners. My plan was going as I wanted but then I got passed because of the slipstream and it was difficult to make my way back up as people were being very aggressive, but it is what it is. I was so focused on being in the right place on the last lap to fight for the win. I wanted to be around sixth for the straight after turn three so I could lead after that which I did but we had a crazy braking zone with everyone all together and I lost momentum and I wasn’t able to retake the positions I’d lost. I finished eighth which was good for the championship, and I learned a lot for race two which was important. We had an even crazier second race. I was able to make my way into the lead after a couple of laps and my goal was to try to stay out front as long as possible. I was trying to be defensive and not let people pass me. When we finally got to the hairpin on the final lap there was more chaos, just like race one, but I was able to exit the turn fifth. I made some aggressive moves and was able to finish fourth. It was not an easy race, but it keeps me in the hunt for the championship – I’m equal fourth now and only twenty-seven from first with four races left. I’m going to Cremona confident of another good result and I’ll be looking to close this championship up. I want to say a big thank you to my Smrz Racing Team and everyone who is supporting me. See you in Italy!”