WSBK – Superpole Magny-Cours: Rea signs his first pole in 2016 – KAWASAKI occasions

Superpole Magny-Cours: Rea signs his first pole in 2016

WSBK - Superpole Magny-Cours: Rea signs his first pole in 2016 - KAWASAKI occasions

Jonathan Rea was the fastest this morning on the wet Magny-Cours track. The 2015 WSBK champion and 2016 leader thus won his first pole of the year (!) Ahead of his great rivals Tom Sykes and Chaz Davies. Sylvain Guintoli is on the lookout, in 4th position…

While the first day of free practice took place under a magnificent blue sky – blue like the Riviera sky -, the second started under thick and depressing clouds … and on a wet track that forced the teams to completely review the Superbike settings !

Not at all discouraged – quite the contrary – Sylvain Guintoli was the first driver to leave the pits in SP2! and eager to kick the Britons out of the Top 3 in World Superbike, "Guinters" unfortunately failed in their Superpole mission.

Timed in 1 ‘54.574 on the handlebars of his official R1 n ° 50 on the demanding French track, Sylvain is still ahead of the impressive Leon Camier – an Englishman! – on his MV Agusta n ° 2 and the valiant Michael van den Mark on his Honda n ° 60 (deprived of FP1 because of a technical problem!).

WSBK - Superpole Magny-Cours: Rea signs his first pole in 2016 - KAWASAKI occasions

At the controls of his Kawasaki "Number One", Jonathan Rea nevertheless killed the suspense by chaining the best lap times, maintaining a clear and constant advantage over his two best enemies: the Ninja n ° 66 Tom Sykes (author of seven poles this year against only one for Johnny) and the official Ducati n ° 7 Chaz Davies, unbeatable yesterday in the dry…

Best time in SP1 this morning, Matthieu Lagrive occupied 7th place during most of SP2 ahead of Nicky Hayden, with whom he had "warmed up" a few minutes earlier. Finally, the French n ° 76 – like Baz! – signs a magnificent 9th time, behind Hayden and Savadori.

The fourth row of the starting grid will be composed of Xavi Fores, Alex Lowes and Jordi Torres. Far from the outposts in terms of time, these three drivers will nevertheless have to be watched this afternoon, especially if the track conditions change during the race….

WSBK - Superpole Magny-Cours: Rea signs his first pole in 2016 - KAWASAKI occasions

Stopped in SP1 by Lagrive and Hayden, Davide Giugliano should have placed his factory Ducati n ° 34 at the top of the fifth row of the French grid, in front of the BMW n ° 25 of Josh Brookes (who fell without hurting himself at the very end of SP1) and Aprilia n ° 15 by Alex de Angelis. But declared unfit by the medical team, the Roman "DG34" will not take the start.

The Italian Luca Scassa, replacing Fabio Menghi on the Ducati VFT, will start from 16th place. He will be followed by Spaniard Roman Ramos on his Kawasaki GoEleven and Czech Karel Abraham on BMW Milwaukee … and by a French driver installed at the head of the next row !

Falling at the end of the first qualifying session (SP1), the double Brazilian Superbike champion, Matthieu Lussiana, finally obtained 19th place on the starting grid. Our third wild-card driver, Alex Plancassagne, will start later – and tomorrow for the second round – from 22nd place … Stay tuned !

Superpole World Superbike Magny-Cours 2016

 WSBK - Superpole Magny-Cours: Rea signs his first pole in 2016 - KAWASAKI occasions

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