Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea put on a masterclass of wet weather riding at Magny-Cours this morning to take the first World Superbike race from Tom Sykes by a little under five seconds with rain master and hometown hero Sylvain Guintoli completing the podium.
Rea passed team-mate Sykes with three laps of the race remaining after the Huddersfield man chewed his rear Pirelli trying to escape and immediately pulled a gap, lapping more than a second quicker than Sykes.
Sykes, however, finished four places ahead of Chaz Davies and cut the points gap in half so Sykes now has a realistic chance of taking runner-up spot in the 2015 championship.
After a multi rider battle from the start Michael van der Mark on the second Pata Honda too fourth, the Dutchman getting the better of Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) =, Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK) and Matteo Baiocco (Althea Racing) who completed the top 7, Camier giving the Italian manufacturer its best finish ever in its WorldSBK history.
Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) rode a solid race after a huge spill in Superpole yesterday to claim 8th ahead of Leandro Mercado (Barni Racing Team) and Niccolo Canepa (Althea Racing) who finished 10th.
The final point scorers were Gianluca Vizziello (Grillini SBK Team), Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils), Luca Scassa (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team), Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia) and Roman Ramos (Team Go Eleven).
Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) started strongly but faded and with 7th laps to go he made the decision to pit for intermediate tyres, he eventually finished 16th after starting from Pole.
