World Superbike Magny-Cours, France - Race Results (2)
An untouchable Toprak Razgatliolgu completed his first ever WorldSBK clean-sweep weekend at Magny-Cours.
WorldSBK Magny-Cours, France - Race Results (2) | ||||
Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time |
1 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | PATA Yamaha | 21 Laps |
2 | Jonathan Rea | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | +2.908s |
3 | Scott Redding | GBR | Aruba.It Ducati | +8.406s |
4 | Andrea Locatelli | ITA | PATA Yamaha | +10.329s |
5 | Chaz Davies | GBR | GoEleven Ducati | +10.734s |
6 | Alvaro Bautista | SPA | Team HRC | +11.467s |
7 | Michael Rinaldi | ITA | Aruba.It Ducati | +13.901s |
8 | Michael Van Der Mark | NED | Motorrad BMW WorldSBK Team | +15.640s |
9 | Garrett Gerloff | USA | GRT Yamaha | +16.254s |
10 | Tom Sykes | GBR | Motorrad BMW WorldSBK Team | +20.911s |
11 | Axel Bassani | ITA | Motocorsa Ducati | +39.410s |
12 | Christophe Ponsson | FRA | Gil Yamaha | +42.808s |
13 | Lucas Mahias | FRA | Kawasaki Puccetti | +43.057s |
14 | Kohta Nozane | JPN | GRT Yamaha | +44.106s |
15 | Tito Rabat | SPA | Barni Ducati | +48.202s |
16 | Jonas Folger | GER | Benovo BMW | +49.557s |
17 | Leandro Mercado | ARG | MIE Honda Racing | +51.981s |
18 | Loris Cresson | BEL | Pedercini Kawasaki | +1:07.692s |
19 | Leon Haslam | GBR | Team HRC | DNF |
20 | Alex Lowes | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | DNF |
After making a brilliant start and challenging both Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea during the opening few corners, Alex Lowes crashed on lap two - his second fall of the weekend.
Razgatlioglu and Rea then began a consistent run of laps where fierce overtakes were being made. Each time Razgatlioglu got past, Rea was able to snap straight back and take over the lead.
But with 11 laps to go, Razgatlioglu finally made a move stick for more than a few corners at turn five.
There was a scary moment on lap six as Andrea Locatelli and Michael Van Der Mark made contact on the start-finish straight. Van Der Mark’s rear tyre created a huge puff of smoke after veering towards the pit wall.
After holding onto the front two for several laps, Scott Redding began to lose ground in third place - a position he kept until the end.
Things then began to settle down between Razgatlioglu and Rea, however, the gap remained small - less than three tenths as they approached the final five laps.
But just as Rea looked to build up for another move, the six-time world champion made mistakes at turn five and eight.
With three laps to go, Razgatlioglu extended the gap to over a second. It was a lead that quickly grew to over three seconds by the race’s end, as Razgatlioglu claimed win #9 of the year.
Superpole Race
Toprak Razgatlioglu won a stunning WorldSBK Superpole race at Magny-Cours after getting the better of Jonathan Rea on the final lap.
After attempting to take the lead from Rea at turn five on the opening lap, Razgatlioglu made the same move stick on lap two - Yamaha rider set a new race lap record on the same lap.
Even though Razgatlioglu remained on lap record pace after that, Rea was able to stay with the Turkish rider, while Alex Lowes regained third from Andrea Locatelli.
As was the case in race one, Leon Haslam led a big group behind the Kawasaki and Yamaha riders.
However, Haslam slowly went backwards as Michael Van Der Mark, Scott Redding and Alvaro Bautista all got through.
Redding then got ahead of his future BMW team-mate for fifth at the start of lap six. At the front, Razgatlioglu began to edge away from Rea with three laps to go.
Haslam got back past team-mate Bautista for seventh, while Chaz Davies closed in on both Honda riders.
What looked like a certain win for Razgatlioglu soon became anything but that on the final lap, as Rea made a stunning move in turn 12 after recovering the gap, however, Razgatlioglu responded into turn 15 and eventually took win #2 of the weekend.