Jonathan Rea swept to victory in the opening WorldSBK race at Magny-Cours this lunchtime and in doing so claimed a fourth straight World Championship.
Rea took the lead from team-mate and polesitter Tom Sykes on lap two and slowly edged away from the 2013 champion to cross the line with a three-second lead. The Irishman needed Ducati’s Chaz Davies to finish in third or worse to bag the crown, and the Welshman duly obliged with fifth place.
Rea now equals the legendary Carl Fogarty on four championships, although the Blackburn man did it in two sets of two, and he now has 130 podiums to his credit, the same as Troy Corser.
"Absolutely incredible. I don't have many words, we played our cards perfectly this weekend. I feel so blessed and lucky. It's beyond my wildest dreams. Thanks to everyone who believed in me," said Rea in parc ferme.
Xavi Fores (Barni Ducati) completed the race one podium in third, with Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) and Davies right behind.
A strong early start from Sykes and Rea saw the KRT duo head up the chasing pack, but soon after it was Rea from Sykes, with Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha) a faller, restarting down in 18th and last place.
Michael Rinaldi (Aruba Ducati Junior) was also a faller early in the race, after what looked like an massive engine blow which saw his Panigale briefly catch fire.
Davies, knowing he had to stick with Rea as closely as possible to keep the championship alive into Sunday, made a big move on Razgatlioglu for fifth. Davies was 3.731 seconds behind Rea after six laps and was unable to match his crushing pace.
Rea, setting astoundingly consistent pace in the 1’37s, ended up with a final advantage of 3.091 seconds over Sykes. Rea broke the lap record more than once, with his best being a 1’37.152, on lap eight.
Behind the top five, Marco Melandri (Aruba Ducati) was an advancing sixth, Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha) seventh and Razgatlioglu eighth.
Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) caught and passed Loris Baz (Althea BMW) for ninth. Leon Camier (Red Bull Honda) was 11th and team-mate Jake Gagne took 13th.
