Aruba Ducati’s Chaz Davies upped his game to remain in control of the Magny-Cours World Superbike timesheets this afternoon but not as much as Leon Camier, who propelled the MV Agusta - or it propelled him - to second place just two tenths behind his old mate.
Davies was the only rider in the field to dip under the 1’38s barrier to record a 1’37.836 but Camier was on a a charge and stuck in a 1’38.046 with 20 minutes left to run which sealed second place for the former British Superbike Champion who increased his pace by the business end of a second.
However, Camier had plenty of company as Tom Sykes found some pace over lunch to record a 1’38.068 but was reduced to eight laps with a technical problem on the Kawasaki. Team-mate Jonathan Rea, who wasn’t outside the top five all session, cemented fourth place on a 1’38.145 with only five minutes left to run. Rea put in a serious race distance with 15 laps in the 1’38s, so it looks at the moment like a Castletown v Presteigne battle at least in race one tomorrow with Camier looking like a serious podium contender.
Alex Lowes sat out a majority of the hour after an early crash but he came out with ten minutes left and began a charge up the order which resulted in a 1’38.193 and fifth place. Lowes’ 2017 team-mate Michael Van Der Mark didn;t take part this morning due to a faulty engine but he finished in sixth on a 1’38.384 after completing half as many laps as the opposition.
Xavi Fores slipped down the order to seventh after finding only fractions of a second in pace while Lorenzo Savadori gained more than a second to take eighth. Sylvain Guintoli bagged ninth in front of his home crowd while Jordi Torres was the first BMW in tenth and 0.850s off the pace.
He was followed by Althea team-mate Markus Reiterberger with Matthieu Lagrive setting the 12th quickest time before crashing. Nicky Hayden is still re-adjusting to the Pirellis and steel discs, finishing in 13th, just ahead of Luca Scassa and Davide Giugliano.
Josh Brookes continues to struggle down in 18th place, one behind team-mate Karel Abraham, which will please the Australian no end.
