WSBK France (1): Davies does not stop !
As at the Lausitzring, Chaz Davies won the first WSBK round at Magny-Cours, launched on a "Wet" but drying track! The n ° 7 Ducati bet on intermediate tires and did not go to the pits, unlike Sykes and Van den Mark who accompany him on the podium…
The sky clears above Magny-Cours as the pilots settle down on the grid! Radiant clearings warm the atmosphere and might – quickly or not? – dry the track: the choice of tires promises to be as difficult as it is decisive. Most riders select wet tires…
Departure : Jonathan Rea takes the lead ahead of Tom Sykes. The two Kawasaki take several steps ahead in the sequence leading to Estoril. On a good start, Sylvain Guintoli was passed by Michael van den Mark and Nicky Hayden in the long "Portuguese" curve, then by Leon Camier when braking Adelaide. Starting with intermediaries, Chaz Davies failed in 12th position !
Sykes takes the lead in the middle of the first loop while the two Honda n ° 69 and 60 catch up. Camier and Savadori on their beautiful Italians (F4 and RSV4) are fighting for fifth place, just ahead of the R1 of our favorite n ° 50. Matthieu Lussiana is 13th, Matthieu Lagrive 16th and Alex Plancassagne 18th.
Hayden wears his Fireblade up to Rea’s Ninja on the second pass through Estoril then passes the Northern Irish … before being passed again on the descent to the Lycee complex! VDM is on the lookout … but he is chased by Camier, rid of Savadori.
At the start of the 3rd lap, Sylvain Guintoli was a big second behind Lorenzo Savadori, and more than three seconds behind leader Tom Sykes. Our Frenchie is chased by De Angelis on the second Aprilia and by Alex Lowes on the second Aprilia.
In front, the two Honda riders elbow each other … and lose ground on the leading Kawasaki. In their wheels for a couple of laps, Leon Camier takes advantage of this fratricidal fight to jump to third place! The MV Agusta n ° 2 is just a second behind the leaders.
Patient and cautious, Savadori manages to pick up the two Hondas. The Italian overtakes Van den Mark at the end of the 4th lap and immediately positions the "Kentucky Legend" in his sights! One minute later, n ° 32 attacked n ° 69 and moved up to 4th position.
As frustrated by this defeat, Hayden is the first to return to the pits to put on a pair of slick tires. The track dries up slowly but the moment the Honda rider joins the race, intermediates are perhaps the most suitable tires…
In the lead since the first lap, Sykes is half a second ahead of poleman Rea. Camier is stuck to the rear wheel of the "Number One" but the fastest driver on the track is Savadori, placed a few lengths away … The Italian nevertheless suddenly loses contact on the 7th lap.
Leon Camier attacks Rea while braking Adelaide to the cheers of the spectators, many of whom have come to support Jules Cluzel, so MV Agusta! The English n ° 2 continues to attack and lodges in the aspiration of Sykes. Savadori sets a new lap record and joins the leading group.
Dropped by the leading quartet, VDM returned to the pit before the 8th lap, imitated by Reiterberger and Torres. At the same time, "Kamir" takes the lead of the race and moves away from the two official Kawasaki! Savadori on Aprilia is inserted between the Ninja at the start of the 9th round…
Victim of a technical problem, Hayden returned to the pits shortly before halfway. His team-mate VDM is the first driver on the track to use slick tires: he occupies 12th place, 47 seconds behind Leon Camier who escaped alone in the lead !
In the pit lane, the teams are more and more active. The Kawasaki team in particular is ready to welcome its two drivers Sykes and Rea, respectively second and fourth on the track. Both teammates enter at the same time 10 laps from the end !
Leon Camier continued his solo race, two seconds ahead of Lorenzo Savadori, but he turned four seconds slower than Van den Mark, then seventh 40 seconds behind the leader. Guintoli, eighth, changes tires nine laps from the end.
Like Camier and Savadori, Davies and De Angelis did not go through the pits. Placed about ten seconds from the MV, the Ducati rider took third place in the San Marino and fell on the two leading riders now united.
Matthieu Lagrive occupies an incredible fourth place at the helm of his Kawasaki, eleven seconds behind Savadori who has just overtaken Camier in Adelaide, and five seconds behind Davies. In the background, Rea and Sykes fight like ragpickers … for eighth place !
Six laps from the end, Davies wins a new place without any harm: "Chazie" turns a second faster on the lap than Camier. Far behind, Sykes gets a huge heat at the exit of Imola! Housed in his rear wheel, Rea has to give up the throttle and remains stuck behind his teammate.
As he approaches Nurburgring, Chaz Davies makes short work of Lorenzo Savadori, whose wet tires must be starting to tire. The n ° 7 on his intermediaries goes towards victory, leaving Savadori and Camier almost in place! Lagrive is ten seconds ahead of VDM … but the "Flying Dutchman" is incomparably faster.
While Sykes quickly climbs back on Fores and De Angelis, Rea almost sends him to the mat when Braking Water Tower! Tom did not – fortunately – notice anything and gained two places in the descent to Lycee while Rea regains his senses…
Sykes is by far the fastest in the race, but Van den Mark is the driver who stands out as he overtook Savadori on the outside in Estoril, as he did on Haslam last year. Taking full advantage of his slick tires, "Magic Michael" takes second place, twelve seconds behind "Chazie".
Tom Sykes also gives it to their heart’s content and goes up like a cannon ball. After easily defeating Savadori on the penultimate lap, the No.66 Ninja hopes to be able to erase his two seconds behind Van den Mark in the final loop..
Chaz Davies wins a magnificent victory, acquired in the middle of the race when he was riding much faster than the leaders on rain compounds, but also assured at the very start of the race by showing immense composure on a still very wet track….
Passed at the right time by the pits, Michal van den Mark retained his superb second place until the checkered flag, which he crossed half a second ahead of Tom Sykes! Passed in front of Lorenzo Savadori in the final loop, Jonathan Rea limits the damage by collecting 13 points for fourth place.
Let’s congratulate Matthieu Lagrive, who finished sixth in this first round on the handlebars of the Kawasaki Pedercini (originally from Sylvain Barrier)! He ranks first French driver: Sylvain Guintoli is ninth, Matthieu Lussiana 20th and Alex Plancassagne last.
See you tomorrow for the second Superbike round (start at 1pm like today) … and for the Supersport race which will perhaps seal Kenan Sofuoglu’s fifth world title? The Turkish driver will also start from pole position…
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