After being ousted from the podium for the first time this season in Jerez—where he was twice fourth but crowned world champion—Jonathan Rea washed away the sorrow with a dominant double victory in Magny Cours (France). Rain or shine, the Kawasaki rider proved to be the most competitive on track, preceding Tom Sykes and Sylvain Guintoli in a wet Race One, and Chaz Davies and Sykes in a sunny Race Two. Before the season finale in Qatar, the Ulsterman is now only within 25 points from breaking the all-time season record of 552 set by Colin Edwards in 2002.
“It was very important to get back to the top after Jerez,” said Rea. “I got my first victory with the ZX-10R in the wet and then proved again how competitive our package is in different conditions. The rain made the track more slippery compared with yesterday, so I was a bit worried about choosing the softer rear, but thankfully it lasted until the end.”
On his way to the top, Rea also traded paints with his teammate Sykes. The Brit, who can only chase the runner-up honors, cut his gap from Davies (only sixth in Race One) from 22 to 16 points with two races left, while the team didn't issue any orders. The pair almost collided toward the end of Race One, with Sykes going briefly wide at turn 12-13, before touching going into the Adelaide hairpin in Race Two. In both occasions, Rea emerged victorious to his teammate's chagrin.
“Jonathan pushed me a bit wide in Race One, but I hadn't enough grip and couldn't counter his move, that's it,” commented. Sykes. “I couldn't have done more, but we clearly need to solve some setup problems because in the dry I had a better pace during free practice than in the race.”
“Tom was closing the door on me every time, but I had a better pace and it showed at the end,” replied Rea. “My training regime was a bit out of the window as I had a busy couple of weeks after winning the title, but Pirelli brought my favorite front tyre (the standard SC2, which was not available in Jerez) and I immediately felt really comfortable again. I never had a podium here before, and we leave with a double, so I'm really happy.”
Davies, who headed to France in top form after claiming four victories in the previous six races, took his first podium in Magny Cours but was still not satisfied. “It's a shame for how Race One went, even though today was still my best outing in Magny Cours,” the Ducati rider commented. “We had a completely wrong setup, as we didn't have enough time to change from 'dry' to 'wet', so I felt like I was riding on ice. In Race Two, when I saw Sykes was losing ground, I decided to settle for second position as trying to catch Rea would have been too risky. Overall, we lost less points than I thought and I'll head to Qatar with a 16-point advantage on Sykes, who has always been really strong here in France, so we just have to stay focused.”
Race day also saw Kenan Sofuoglu and Lorenzo Savadori win the Supersport and Superstock1000 titles respectively. The championship will resume for one final round in Qatar in two weeks' time.
World Superbike Magny Cours Race 1 results:
1. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Kawasaki Racing Team
2. Tom Sykes (GBR) Kawasaki Racing Team
3. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Pata Honda WSBK
4. Michael Van der Mark (NET) Pata Honda WSBK
5. Leon Camier (GBR) MV Agusta Reparto Corse
6. Chaz Davies (GBR) Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team
7. Matteo Baiocco (ITA) Althea Racing Ducati
8. Alex Lowes (GBR) Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
9. Leandro Mercado (ARG) Barni Racing Ducati
10. Niccolò Canepa (ITA) Althea Racing Ducati
11. Gianluca Vizziello (ITA) Grillini SBK Kawasaki
12. Jordi Torres (SPA) Aprilia Racing/Red Devils
13. Luca Scassa (ITA) Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team
14. Ayrton Badovini (ITA) BMW Motorrad Italia
15. Román Ramos (SPA) Team Go Eleven Kawasaki
16. Leon Haslam (GBR) Aprilia Racing/Red Devils
17. Gábor Rizmayer (HUN) BMW Team Toth
18. Christophe Ponsson (FRA) Team Pedercini Kawasaki
19. Alex Phillis (AUS) Grillini SBK Kawasaki
20. Imre Toth (HUN) BMW Team Toth
21. Markus Reiterberger (GER) VanZon Remeha BMW
DNF Pawel Szkopek (POL) Szkopek POLand Position Yamaha
DNF Randy De Puniet (FRA) Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
DNF David Salom (SPA) Team Pedercini Kawasaki
World Superbike Magny Cours Race 2 results:
1. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Kawasaki Racing Team
2. Chaz Davies (GBR) Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team
3. Tom Sykes (GBR) Kawasaki Racing Team
4. Michael Van der Mark (NET) Pata Honda WSBK
5. Leon Haslam (GBR) Aprilia Racing/Red Devils
6. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Pata Honda WSBK
7. Niccolò Canepa (ITA) Althea Racing Ducati
8. Jordi Torres (SPA) Aprilia Racing/Red Devils
9. Luca Scassa (ITA) Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team
10. Alex Lowes (GBR) Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
11. Matteo Baiocco (ITA) Althea Racing Ducati
12. Leandro Mercado (ARG) Barni Racing Ducati
13. Markus Reiterberger (GER) VanZon Remeha BMW
14. David Salom (SPA) Team Pedercini Kawasaki
15. Leon Camier (GBR) MV Agusta Reparto Corse
16. Román Ramos (SPA) Team Go Eleven Kawasaki
17. Gianluca Vizziello (ITA) Grillini SBK Kawasaki
18. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
19. Christophe Ponsson (FRA) Team Pedercini Kawasaki
20. Gábor Rizmayer (HUN) BMW Team Toth
21. Imre Toth (HUN) BMW Team Toth
22. Alex Phillis (AUS) Grillini SBK Kawasaki
DNF Ayrton Badovini (ITA) BMW Motorrad Italia
DNF Pawel Szkopek (POL) Szkopek POLand Position Yamaha
