11-13 France – Magny-Cours – WorldSBK France (2): the god Rea rolls on gold, again and again – Used KAWASAKI

Posted on by admin

WorldSBK France (2): the god Rea rolls on gold, again and again

11-13 France - Magny-Cours - WorldSBK France (2): the god Rea rolls on gold, again and again - Used KAWASAKI

Twenty-four hours after his fourth World Superbike title, the god Rea shone again on the Magny-Cours track. The Kawasaki n ° 1 rider nevertheless had to fight against Davies and Van der Mark to record his 14th success this season… Three more and that’s the record !

Terrific fourth in the first French round yesterday, Lorenzo Savadori has the opportunity this Sunday to post his n ° 32 Aprilia in pole position, ahead of the n ° 7 and n ° 33 Ducati of Chaz Davies and Marco Melandri, respectively fifth and sixth in the race on Saturday.

Michael Van der Mark (Yamaha n ° 60), Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki n ° 54) and Eugene Laverty (Aprilia n ° 50) come second in that order. Ranked tenth in front of his audience yesterday, Loris Baz does not rise to third place, but to fourth.

Still in accordance with the regulations, Jonathan Rea must place his ZX-10 "Or-Or" n ° 1 in ninth place on the Nivernaise grid, behind his podium neighbors: Tom Sykes on his own Kawasaki n ° 66 and Xavi Fores on his Ducati n ° 12 … Guests Jeremy Guarnoni and Matthieu Lussiana take back their 19th and 21st places.

Departure : Savadori started well from the first place but Davies brakes later in the first curve and takes the lead. Oddly skillful, brave, ambitious or lucky – or a bit of all four? -, Van der Mark slips to second place at Estoril: he is competing in his 100th Superbike race today and is aiming for at least the podium !

Melandri then precedes Rea who fights from the middle of the 1st round for the podium, despite his handicap on the grid. Next year, the race director may ask the Kawasaki rider (100th start for the Greens today) to start from the last row, who knows ?

Behind the quadruple champion (since yesterday!), The inverted grid spices up the start of the race: Sykes, Savadori, Razgatlioglu, Fores, Laverty, Camier, Lowes, Baz and the rest of the peloton fight in almost every turn. !

Johnny and his Ninja are placed in the rear wheel of VDM and his R1 at the start of the 2nd lap. The time of a loop, the "Number One" of the discipline seems to observe his opponent. Out of the corner of his eye, he also notices that Chaz is taking off! Rea overtakes Van der Mark at the exit of Estoril in the 3rd lap.

On the lookout, Melandri takes advantage of the two aspirations (Kawa n ° 1 and Yam n ° 60) to come back to the two braking duels of Adelaide! Marco, a little too hot, misses out on the Nurburgring … The Ducati rider n ° 33 does not lose contact with the Yamaha n ° 60. Kawasaki n ° 1 on the other hand, escapes.

Unable to attack in the first three laps as strong as his rivals – on the track as in the championship – Sykes found himself two seconds behind Melandri. Ninja # 66 is leading a still fairly compact peloton. Savadori is however the only one to equal the lap times of Mister Superpole. Razgatlioglu, Fores, Lowes, and Laverty close the Top 10. Baz is twelfth.

In front, the Welsh "dragon" spits into the gloves to keep the "god" Rea at bay. In the 6th lap, Davies only has a scant half-second lead. Van der Mark and Melandri are gradually dropped … They count on Johnny to deprive Chaz of the victory and the corresponding 25 points! The second place of the provisional is played between them three and Sykes…

Back in the pots of the Ducati n ° 7, the Kawasaki n ° 1 seems to delay again in the 7th lap. This allows the Yamaha # 60 to fall back under a second of delay. A lap passes and Rea tries to dislodge Davies in the long line – not – right of Magny-Cours which leads to Estoril…

The Ducati n ° 7 gallops well. So that the Kawasaki n ° 1 "stalls" on the outside … Replaced inside for Adelaide’s braking, Jonathan tries to pass Chaz on the brakes but widens and yields several lengths to his opponent at the exit of ‘pin. Michael VDM glues back in just half a second! Marco is dumped.

On the 10th lap, the three leading men found themselves in the same second! A formidable brakeman, Chaz Davies resists the attacks of the swift Johnny Rea. Michael van der Mark does not quite manage to place himself in the asphalt of the Kawa. Marco Melandri recovers and hangs one second off the podium.

In the 12th lap, Rea tries again to pass Davies on the brakes, widens again … but does not lose too much ground under acceleration. The "Number One" immediately changes tactics and attacks his great rival as soon as he enters 180 °! The maneuver is paying … Rea now has a clear track.

In one lap, the winner of the first French round – and the last seven WSBK races! – takes a lead of three quarters of a second. Davies is always chased by Van der Mark … and Melandri who does not turn as fast as the leader, but faster than his two predecessors! Sykes is two big seconds away from the Italian.

Behind the solo sailors Sykes, Savadori, Lowes, Fores and Camier, three drivers are fighting for the last place of the Top 10: Laverty, Baz and Razgatlioglu! With six laps to go, Loris passed Eugene. The French are lost in the Water Tower but stay ahead of the Irish. French fans are stamping their feet !

In front, the gaps are gradually growing … The world hierarchy is almost respected: Rea dominates, Davies ensures, Van der Mark confirms. Melandri battles, but Sykes comes back! Three laps from the end, the Kawasaki n ° 66 made the junction on the Ducati n ° 33…

On the following lap Adelaide’s first attempt to pass under braking was the correct one. Tom settles in fourth position (his place in the provisional), two short seconds behind Van der Mark who turns at the same pace as the Kawasaki rider … The order is therefore preserved until the checkered flag..

Jonathan Rea continues with an eighth consecutive victory: it is the best series of his career. One more success in Argentina in two weeks would allow him to equal the record of the discipline. For the record, Edwards (in 2002) and Hodgson (in 2003) had won nine races in a row…

At the end of a magnificent battle, our international "Bazooka" finished ahead of Laverty and Razgatlioglu: riding his S1000RR unfortunately less efficient on 21 laps in the race than on just one in qualifying, Loris therefore snatched a second 10th place ahead of his public.

Our 2018 French Superbike champion and great friend of Baz, Jeremy Guarnoni, again finished in last position, but gained six seconds on Rea compared to his race yesterday. Forced to retire from the first lap yesterday, Matthieu Lussiana only completed two laps today before returning to the pits. Hard.

Result of the second WSBK 2018 race at Magny-Cours

11-13 France - Magny-Cours - WorldSBK France (2): the god Rea rolls on gold, again and again - Used KAWASAKI

11-13 France - Magny-Cours - WorldSBK France (2): the god Rea rolls on gold, again and again - Used KAWASAKI

Related articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *