Magny-Cours World Superbike FP1 results: Rea top as Bassani suffers nasty fall
Jonathan Rea, fresh off his deal to join Yamaha in 2024, was fastest during the early stages as he led a factory Kawasaki 1-2.
Four tenths clear of Alex Lowes, Rea was also 1.2 seconds clear of championship leader Alvaro Bautista.
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Looking to find more time, Bautista was not shy in making overtakes as he swept across the front of Lucas Mahias coming out of turn one.
After moving up to third, Toprak Razgatlioglu then continued his progress up the leaderboard as he went second - +0.294s off Rea’s top time.
Scott Redding was the next rider to show strong pace as he leapfrogged both factory Ducatis.
However, the BMW rider was still over seven tenths down on Rea, as the six-time world champion’s time was proving difficult to beat.
With 15 minutes remaining Razgatlioglu closed in on Rea after setting a time of 1:37.060s.
The 2021 world champion then threatened to take over top spot after going fastest in sector two, however, Rea’s very strong end to the lap meant Razgatlioglu couldn’t keep hold of his advantage.
A fast lap from Garrett Gerloff then saw the American leap into second spot, but like Razgatlioglu, the BMW rider was unable to break into the 1m 36s barrier.
2023 World Superbike Magny-Cours, France - Free Practice (1) Results | ||||
Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time |
1 | Jonathan Rea | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | 1:36.900s |
2 | Garrett Gerloff | USA | Bonovo Action BMW | +0.157s |
3 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK | +0.160s |
4 | Andrea Locatelli | ITA | Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK | +0.242s |
5 | Alex Lowes | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | +0.431s |
6 | Alvaro Bautista | SPA | Aruba.It Racing Ducati | +0.567s |
7 | Michael Ruben Rinaldi | ITA | Aruba.It Racing Ducati | +0.577s |
8 | Scott Redding | GBR | ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | +0.735s |
9 | Axel Bassani | ITA | Motocorsa Ducati | +0.762s |
10 | Danilo Petrucci | ITA | Barni Spark Racing Team | +0.844s |
11 | Michael Van Der Mark | NED | ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | +0.978s |
12 | Xavi Vierge | SPA | Team HRC WorldSBK | +1.168s |
13 | Philipp Oettl | GER | GoEleven Ducati | +1.214s |
14 | Dominique Aegerter | SWI | GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team | +1.288s |
15 | Iker Lecuona | SPA | Team HRC WorldSBK | +1.318s |
16 | Lorenzo Baldassarri | ITA | GMT94 Yamaha | +1.383s |
17 | Loris Baz | FRA | Bonovo Action BMW | +1.386s |
18 | Remy Gardner | AUS | GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team | +1.416s |
19 | Bradley Ray | GBR | Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSBK Team | +1.464s |
20 | Isaac Vinales | SPA | TPR by Vinales Racing | +2.126s |
21 | Lucas Mahias | FRA | Puccetti Kawasaki | +2.813s |
22 | Hannes Soomer | EST | PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing | +3.129s |
23 | Oliver Konig | CZE | Orelac Racing Kawasaki | +3.571s |
Fastest lap - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team 1:36.374s
2022 Race Winners
Race 1 - Alvaro Bautista SPA Aruba.it Ducati
Superpole Race - Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR Pata Yamaha
Race 2 - Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR Pata Yamaha
There was a late red flag as Axel Bassani suffered a big crash at turn seven. The Italian crashed after trying to save a highside.
Bassani appeared to hit his head very hard and was groggy when walking away from the incident.
Magny-Cours weekend schedule (UK time)
Friday
Free Practice 1 - 09:30-10:15
Free Practice 2 - 14:00-14:45
Saturday
Free Practice 3 - 08:00-08:30
Superpole - 10:10-10:25
Race 1 - 13:00
Sunday
Warm-up - 08:00-08:15
Superpole Race - 10:00
Race 2 - 14:15