WSBK Superpole Race – Magny-Cours

The rain began to fall again a few minutes before the start of the Tissot Superpole Race and once the lights went out it was that man Jonathan Rea once again leading the field away, followed by team-mate Alex Lowes and Yamaha riders Michael Van der Mark and Garrett Gerloff.

Scott Redding steadily got down to business working his way forward from tenth on the grid, climbing up through the ranks to take fourth place ahead of Chaz Davies and Loris Baz who were battling for fifth.

Redding continued his charge and eventually caught up with Van der Mark. The final laps were marked by an intense battle between the two riders that continued all the way down to the last turn, where Van der Mark came out on top, finishing on the third step of the podium much to Redding’s frustration.

Second place went to Alex Lowes who after pushing Rea early on and in the middle of the race eventually couldn’t maintain the pace towards the end which saw Rea take the win by 2.4-seconds.  Rea was unrelenting and did the fastest lap of the race on the tenth and final lap.

Superpole Race Results

WorldSBK Race Two

The fight for the 2020 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship will head to the season finale as Scott Redding claimed victory from fourth on the grid at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours for the Pirelli French Round with Jonathan Rea finishing in fourth after starting from pole position.

Rea had led from the start and for the first three laps of the race before Redding had made his way up to the lead battle and passed Rea on the fourth lap of the 21-lap race to take the lead; Redding would go on to dominate the race to take a valuable 25 points in the Championship battle.

Redding was joined on the podium by Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) as the home hero claimed his second podium of the French Round, with Chaz Davies completing the podium.

Davies made the title-denying pass on Lap 14 as he pushed Rea down into fourth place, meaning Rea leads Redding by 59 points with 62 points available in the remaining three races. Rea had tried to fight back in the latter stages of the race to secure the Championship at Magny-Cours but Davies was able to stay ahead and able to keep his Ducati team-mate still in with a mathematical chance at the title.

Michael van der Mark finished in fifth place, more than nine seconds clear of Michael Ruben Rinaldi; the duo battling on track for a top five finish before van der Mark pulled clear. Rinaldi and Davies also battled out on track as the fight for a 2021 Ducati seat hots up. Alex Lowes finished in seventh place after running the opening laps in the top two positions, directly behind his team-mate.

Garrett Gerloff secured another top eight finish as the American rookie continues to make steps forward as he finished ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu and Tom Sykes; the British rider completing the top ten.

Italian rider Federico Caricasulo finished four-seconds behind Sykes in 11th place with Sylvain Barrier (Brixx Performance) equalling his best result of the season with 12th place.

Leon Haslam (Team HRC), Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) rounded out the top 15 to bag a few championship points from what was a disappointing weekend for HRC. BMW too also were left somewhat despondent after not realising their early promise.

WorldSBK Race Two Results

WorldSBK Quotes

Scott Redding

“It was a good race. I pushed to the maximum since the first lap trying to find the feeling with the bike immediately. It has been a difficult weekend, and for this reason, I am extremely happy with this result. During the SuperPole Race, I realised that I was losing precious hundredths in two corners of the circuit. I told my team: ‘If you can solve these two details, I am sure I can win’. They did it, and I thank them”.

Jonathan Rea

“Having started 300 races in WorldSBK makes me feel a little bit old, but it was a nice Superpole race because Alex was keeping me very honest. The gap was very stable and I had to concentrate to the max. We made a small set-up change from yesterday and I felt it really helped me, especially in the final laps with tyre drop. In race two, with the weather conditions at Magny Cours, you have to expect the unexpected and we saw all weekend that when there was not a lot of surface water, we were struggling. In morning warm-up and in the Superpole session, for example – especially with traction in the exit of the corner. I was losing too much on the exit of T5. But the bike set-up was pretty good in the chicanes and all the places where you had to be aggressive with the bike. It was pretty good but just this stop-and-go corner, on the exit, I had too much TC working and too much spinning. It was a really fun race because the bike was moving a lot and I was riding on the limit, but unfortunately not to the podium place that was the target.”

Chaz Davies

“I am very satisfied with this result. The feeling with the bike has been really positive all weekend, and for this, I want to thank my team for the work done in these days. The start was good, and I pushed hard to get Van Der Mark. Then I had a good duel with Jonny, and I’m happy to have finished with this good result”.

Alex Lowes

“Overall it was a positive weekend for us. I got a positive start in the Superpole race and felt good in the initial laps. Johnny was a bit quicker at the end and I was struggling a little bit with the front end. In those ten lap races you have to get a good start and get into a good position and we did that really well. It was a great 1-2 for Kawasaki. The final race was a bit tricky and I did not have the feeling I needed. When the track dried up I just couldn’t seem to get the grip and I could not attack and ride like I wanted. This was frustrating but overall in the wet I was really happy with the work the guys did. Big thanks to them because it is never ideal in these cold and wet conditions. I am really happy to be leaving France with two podiums.”

Loris Baz

“We had yet another great day!  We had a really good warm-up which was crucial. I chose the soft tyre for the Superpole Race, but there wasn’t enough water compared to yesterday and I did not feel as comfortable. I was sliding a lot. The conditions were similar for the second race but my chief technician set the bike up so that I could use the hard tyre. Wet track and no or little bit of rain.. I don’t like such conditions at all but the race went really well. I was not taking risks on the first lap because I had doubts about how the tyre would behave. Once I gained confidence, I got into my rhythm quickly and was able to start making a move. When I passed Jonathan, one part of me wanted to give it all to catch Scott but I preferred to ride as calm as possible. I think Scott had an extra bit today. In my opinion, I had a better chance to win yesterday. It is great to finish second at home again in front of some fans that endured this bad weather. A huge thanks to my team, all my mechanics… the bike was perfect from FP1 and it’s great to ride like that.”

Michael van der Mark

“This morning in the Superpole Race, I felt really good with the Yamaha R1, it had some good improvements and I had some nice battles. On the last lap, I had a great fight with Scott and managed to finish third, so I’m really happy with that and to be on the front row of the grid for the second race. I had an OK start in Race 2 but struggled with the front feeling and also the grip out of the slow corners throughout. I couldn’t fight with the others because they were really strong in my weak area. Then it was hard to catch up and at a certain point I was alone in the race just trying to be consistent and not make any mistakes. I finished fifth which was not bad, but we have a lot of work to do to catch Chaz in Estoril for third in the championship.”

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu

“Today, we tried a different set-up but it was not fantastic because we were not able to achieve a better grid position in the Superpole Race to improve in Race 2. But we are learning more and more each time, because in the past I have found the wet conditions difficult, so we keep trying to find a good set-up that works for me. Simply, I need to be faster in the rain! We will see what is possible in Estoril.”

Tom Sykes

“We came into the weekend well and honestly, the whole BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team have been working very well. When we started in the first wet sessions, I was really comfortable with how the bike was working and the chassis of the BMW S 1000 RR. From there we just kept making steps forward, feeling really comfortable. We got ourselves a nice qualifying position for the race and then one thing led to another. After Saturday’s main race, the guys did an incredible job, I think they finished around 2:00 o’clock in the morning on both sides of the garage to prepare the bikes. So hats off to those boys. It was just unfortunate with that lack of information that would have certainly made today a lot easier for the big race. But we’ve learned a lot in the second main race. And like I said, with yesterday’s information we would have certainly done something different today. It has just been one thing after the other which is a shame because after Friday we were very confident for a strong result. But we will just stay positive.”

Eugene Laverty

“After such a good feeling with the bike all weekend, on Friday and Saturday, in the wet conditions, today was a major let-down. The bike never felt the same. Right from the first lap of the morning’s warm-up, I’ve been having issues, particularly on corner entry and mainly in the right corners so we have to investigate, check that there isn’t something out of line after the huge crash yesterday. So let’s investigate, make sure that the bike’s correct for Estoril and try to finish the season on a high.”

Leon Haslam

“To be honest, today ended up being more challenging than yesterday’s race. We had some small problems in the Superpole race, mainly with corner entry, and then in the afternoon race we struggled with some setup issues. As the race went on, and as the track continued to dry, everyone else picked up the pace while I got increasingly slower. A pity as I hoped we could have battled for the top five again, but in the end today was not the day.”

Alvaro Bautista

“Its been a difficult weekend. We tried different solutions during the sessions but I never found the right feeling with the rear. In race 2, with a little less water on track, I perhaps improved my feeling a little but not my overall performance, and not in relation to everybody else of course. So these new conditions have caused us problems and although we knew we’d have grip issues in slippery conditions, this became worse on a full wet track. We have a lot of work still to do, and I’ll now try to put this weekend behind us and reset ahead of the final championship round.”

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WorldSBK Championship Standings

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WorldSSP

A long-awaited victory for Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) came to an end in Race 2 for the Pirelli French Round in stunning fashion as he claimed a dominant victory at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours; the Frenchman claiming a home victory as his first FIM Supersport World Championship win of 2020.

Mahias started the 18-lap race from second place but immediately leapt to the front of the field and instantly pulled out a gap to the rest of the field as he searched for his first victory of the season. The Frenchman finished well clear of second-place Kyle Smith (GMT94), who had started from pole position, as Smith secured his second podium of the 2020 season. Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing) backed up his first WorldSSP podium in Race 1 with a third-place finish in Race 2; the Estonian taking advantage of Can Öncü (Turkish Racing Team) crashing out on Lap 15 at Turn 15 although the Turkish rider was able to re-join the race.

Steven Odendaal (EAB Ten Kate Racing) finished in fourth place after a late-race battle with Kevin Manfredi (Altogoo Racing Team); South African rider Odendaal ahead of Manfredi when the Italian went down on the final lap, but he was able to recover to tenth place. It meant Czech rider Karel Hanika (WRP Wepol Racing) secured a top five position, ahead of Manuel Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team).

Öncü finished the race in seventh place after his crash, making up two places on-track at the Turn 16-17 final chicane, passing Danny Webb (WRP Wepol Racing) and Hikari Okubo (Dynavolt Honda) in eighth and ninth respectively; Okubo securing his best result of the 2020 season. Manfredi was tenth, ahead of Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) in 11th place.

Glenn van Straalen (MPM Routz Racing Team) finished in 12th place with Galang Hendra Pratama (bLU cRU WorldSSP by MS Racing) and Axel Bassani (Soradis Yamaha Motoxracing) completing the finishers as only 14 riders were able to finish the race in difficult conditions; Andrea Locatelli (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) the first retirement after he crashed on the Warm-Up lap.

Isaac Viñales (Kallio Racing), Corentin Perolari (GMT94 Yamaha), Stephane Frossard (Moto Team Jura Vitesse), Loris Cresson (OXXO Yamaha Team Toth), Andy Verdoïa (bLU cRU WorldSSP by MS Racing), Peter Sebestyen (OXXO Yamaha Team Toth), Raffaele de Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), Alejandro Ruiz Carranza (EMPERADOR Racing Team) and Federico Fuligni (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) all retired from the incident-packed race.

P1 Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing)

“I’m really happy! It’s one year since I last won and to do it at my home race is incredible, same as last year. I wasn’t really confident at the beginning because the bike was not perfect and, again, there was rain. I pushed in the beginning to get a good temperature for my rear tyres and when I looked at the gap I continued to push. The last eight laps were very long as I tried to manage my rear tyre and it got too cold. It’s difficult. Every lap, I was thinking about pushing, not pushing, pushing, not pushing. It’s very good for me, for Kawasaki and very good for the French fans. The weather is not nice but there are lots of people here.”

P2 Kyle Smith (GMT94 Yamaha)

“It was a difficult race. Lucas got out in front, I was struggling a lot with rear grip and the feel. When there’s a little bit less water on track I’ve not had a problem, but the same in yesterday’s race and today I struggled a bit with the feel. I settled for second, happy for the team and a good result.”

P3 Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing)

“It’s a really good way to finish the weekend. I knew I had to get a better start than yesterday but it didn’t happen. I made some stupid mistake on the first laps and lost a lot of time. Then I start to find my speed again and start to catch the guys in front. When I was behind Öncü, I was on the limit but saw that I was faster than him. With three laps to go, I thought I could catch him. He made a mistake so it was a bit easier for me! I am really happy with this result.”

WorldSSP Race Two

WorldSSP Championship Standings

TBC

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WorldSSP300 Race Two

With 34 riders lining up on the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship for a race held in mixed conditions, drama was never far away at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours as Marc Garcia (2R Racing) claimed a sensational victory as the rain started to fall on the Pirelli French Round as Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT) extended his Championship lead.

Garcia had been running in the lead group and made an aggressive move on the final lap at the Turn 11-12 Imola chicane on Hugo de Cancellis (Team TRASIMENO) to take the victory while Buis was able to pass Frenchman de Cancellis also on the final lap as the trio secured the podium; Garcia leading Buis and de Cancellis home.

Scott Deroue (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT) finished the race in fourth place but lost ground to Buis in the Championship standings, with Buis now leading Deroue by 28 points with a possible 50 available across the season finale at the Estoril Round. Deroue held off teammate Yuta Okaya by just a tenth of a second with Adrian Huertas (ProGP Racing) scoring his best result of his WorldSSP300 career to date with sixth place.

Koen Meuffels (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT) finished in seventh place ahead of Australia Tom Edwards (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) in eighth; Edwards securing his first points finish since Race 2 at Portimao.

Alvaro Diaz (Biblion Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSSP300) finished in ninth place ahead of Felipe Macan (Team Brasil AD 78) in tenth; the Brazilian taking his best result of 2020.

Filippo Rovelli (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) was 11th after fighting in the lead group for the majority of the 10-lap race; Rovelli having a massive moment in the latter stages of the race and falling back to finish 11th, ahead of Kawasaki GP Project duo Bruno Ieraci and Alfonso Coppola. Ton Kawakami (Yamaha MS Racing) and Enzo De La Vega (Machado Came SBK) rounded out the points with 14th and 15th respectively.

Kevin Sabatucci (Kawasaki GP Project), Mika Perez (Prodina Ircos Team WorldSSP300), Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSSP300), Tom Bramich (Carl Cox-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki), Nick Kalinin (Battley-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki) and Thomas Brianti (Prodina Ircos Team WorldSSP300) all retired from the race.

P1 Marc Garcia (2R Racing)

“An amazing race! Difficult weather here in France but I think we, with the team we were so good this weekend. Of course, thank you to my team for all the hard work and thanks for this victory.”

P2 Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT)

“Very happy with this result. It was a difficult race because at the beginning it was dry and then it started to rain, but I managed the race well to finish second. Very happy with that and good points for the Championship.”

P3 Hugo de Cancellis (Team TRASIMENO)

“It was a really difficult race with different conditions. We decided to use the wet tyre and I think it was the right choice because at the end of the race, the rain came. I’m really happy and thanks to my team and my family. My first podium of the year and here at Magny-Cours, I’m really happy.”

WorldSSP300 Race Two Results

Source: MCNews.com.au