WSBK France (1): third world title watered for Jonathan Rea
The Magny-Cours circuit was the scene of a new fugue in Rea major, which ensures Ninja n ° 1 a third world title in a row, unprecedented in World Superbike! Far behind, Melandri and Sykes offered a magnificent final to the French public… and soaked.
Departure :Jonathan Rea gets off to a great start from pole position! Tom Sykes, Chaz Davies, Leandro Mercado, Xavi Fores, Michael van den Mark, Alex Lowes, Davide Giugliano, Leon Camier, Eugen Laverty, etc..
Davies overtakes Sykes on the – very big – braking of Adelaide and sets off to chase Rea, who is almost two seconds ahead of him halfway … In the peloton, the two Yamaha rub their fairings! Giugliano traces straight into Imola and finds himself under threat from Melandri.
Marco steals ninth place from his compatriot Davide at the start of the second round. "Magic Michael" falls at the exit of the Adelaide hairpin … Placed on the same trajectory, Fores cannot avoid the R1 n ° 60 and drops his Panigale n ° 12 in turn.
In front, Johnny continues his "One man show": at the start of the 3rd lap, the Kawasaki n ° 1 is 3.8 seconds ahead of the Ducati n ° 7 and the Kawa n ° 66. Mercado and Lowes are two seconds off the podium, but Camier quickly joins them…
When Sykes passed Davies in the 3rd lap, Rea was 5.5 seconds ahead of them! The ruthless "JR" then turns a second faster in the lap than his teammate. After the two factory Kawasaki, the fastest machine on the track is the MV Agusta n ° 2…
Leon Camier just passed Leandro "Tati" Mercado on lap 4 and aimed for Lowes’ No. 22 Yamaha. Behind this trio, Marco Melandri slams lap times as good as those of Sykes! On his own Ducati, Davies is much more feverish: dropped by Tom, Chaz is joined by Alex Lowes at the start of the 6th lap…
The Yamaha rider deposits the Ducati in Adelaide and virtually hoists his R1 on the podium! But the Englishman should be wary of Marco who has just stolen his fourth place from Chaz. The "Hedgehog of Ravenna" seems wonderfully at ease this afternoon on his Panigale.
The Rea – Kawa duo is, however, even better: under beautiful sunny spells which should not dry out the track after the remaining 14 laps, the "Number One" of the discipline signs a new lap record! They turn more than a second faster than the n ° 66, relegated to more than 11 seconds now.
While Rea delivers an impeccable recital, Sykes ensures somehow: the English Ninja is nine seconds ahead of Melandri and eleven over Lowes and Camier. Davies continues his descent into hell: Mercado takes sixth place just after passing Golf for the 9th time.
Falling early in the race, Michael van den Mark returned to the Top 10! The slippery then flying Dutchman nibbled ground on Laverty, Giugliano and Davies who precede him by several seconds. At this point in the race, the top ten drivers are all riding solo. Their performances are as boring as they are respectable !
With nine laps to go, Rea is leading the race very comfortably: the n ° 1 has more than 15 seconds ahead of his teammate and runner-up in the Sykes championship. Jonathan does not care about Tom’s place, however: by winning this first round, the double champion can no longer be joined in the general classification. !
Seven short seconds behind Sykes, Melandri must continue to whip his Panigale: Camier is less than three seconds behind him! In the 14th lap, Marco spins so fast that he erases Rea’s record. But Leon’s bugger has resources and only lets go of a handful of hundredths of a second…
As aware that the lap record is no longer his, and taking advantage above all of a less wet track than at the start, Jonathan signs a new brilliant time, a second faster than that of the transalpine (1 ‘53.320!). In contrast, Chaz continues to lose places.
Laverty passes Davies five laps from the end: the Welsh turns three seconds slower than his Irish friend … and Van den Mark who appears in his wake! No.60 Yamaha easily takes ninth place two short laps later.
Giugliano spiced up the end of the race by moving up to Mercado, then sixth. But the attention of the – courageous because soaked – public turns further forward: Melandri sticks to Sykes’ wheel … literally since the Panigale comes to rub against the Ninja in Estoril in the penultimate lap !
The two pilots miraculously stay on their wheels. And the show continues unabated! Marco tries the same attack in the same fast curve and succeeds it this time. Melandri and Sykes team up – literally again! – on the rest of the course, totally eclipsing the fugue in "Rea" major…
Melandri manages to record the fastest time in the race in the final loop and leads Sykes by three tenths of a second under the checkered flag! Five seconds later, Camier collects a new fourth place, far ahead of his compatriots Lowes and Laverty.
Despite everything, the star of the day is undoubtedly Jonathan Rea: winner of this first French round, the Superbike world champion increases his championship lead to 125 points. He will keep the number one plate next year !
Sure, Sykes could match his teammate by winning the last five races on the schedule, but Rea – who shouldn’t be recording any points at the same time? Unthinkable! – would always win with the difference of victories: 12 against 7.
Welcomed by his relatives in the release of the Adelaïde pin, Jonathan Rea dons the traditional t-shirt and helmet of the new champion. More exceptional, his Kawasaki n ° 1 changes fork crown and fender (!) To sport a gold color for the occasion.
Last year Rea entered the World Superbike legend by winning his second consecutive world title, as did Doug Polen, Fred Merkel and Carl Fogarty before him. Stronger than Troy Bayliss, Colin Edwards, Troy Corser, James Toseland or Max Biaggi, in a way !
Today at Magny-Cours, the northern Irishman becomes the only driver to stack three consecutive WorldSBK titles. In number of coronations, he equals the triple champion "Baylisstic" (2001, 2006 and 2008) and approaches the "King Carl" titled in 94 and 95 then 98 and 99…
Result of the first WSBK 2017 race at Magny-Cours
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