WorldSBK

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On the first day of action at the French Round the World Champion was the top man, with Van der Mark and Melandri were also in top three

As the WorldSBK riders undertook their first two practice sessions at the Pirelli French Round on Friday it was Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jonathan Rea who led the way with a 1’37.489 lap, whilst Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) and Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) were also in the top three.

Rea’s quickest time of the day - which was well under the best race lap of the 4.411km Magny-Cours circuit set by his teammate Tom Sykes last year - put him 0.439s ahead of Friday’s second fastest participant Van der Mark. Melandri was marginally slower than Yamaha’s Dutch rider, going round the French track 0.477s off Rea’s time.

The pace of Rea on the first day saw him start the weekend in good shape as he aims to wrap up a third consecutive WorldSBK title.

Also within half a second of Rea was fourth placed Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati), whilst Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) went round 0.527s off P1 pace in fifth.

Spaniard Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team) was sixth best, just ahead of Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) on the combined timesheets. Camier was unable to improve in the afternoon having lapped second fastest in FP1.

Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team), Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) completed the top ten. Sykes was returning to competitive action after missing both races at the last round in Portugal due to a finger injury sustained in practice at Portimao.

In the opening session of the French WorldSBK round earlier on Friday morning Laverty crashed at turn 6, losing the front end going into the right hander ahead of the Nürburgring chicane. The Irishman was unhurt and was soon able to return to the track.

The WorldSBK riders will be back on track on Saturday morning at the Pirelli French Round at 8.45am local time for FP3. SP1 takes place at 10.30am, SP2 follows at 10.55am and Race 1 will start at 1pm.

WorldSBK

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Heading into the final laps of the World Superbike Championship, with three rounds of the series remaining fans could see three potential titles wrapped up at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, but they won’t be secured without an intense fight.

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) is on the cusp of securing his historic third world championship in a row in Race One this weekend, as the Pirelli French Round could hold a lot of importance for the Northern Irish rider.

With an 120 point advantage over his team-mate Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), all Rea has to do on Saturday is win the race and he will be crowned 2017 World Superbike Champion. However it is worth noting the other situations in which the Northern Irish could be crowned champion:

  • If Rea finishes in 2nd, Sykes will have to finish 4th or lower
  • If Rea finishes in 3rd, Sykes will have to finish 5th or lower
  • If Rea finishes in 4th, Sykes will have to finish 8th or lower and Davies has to finish 2nd or lower
  • If Rea finishes in 5th, Sykes will have to finish 10th or lower and Davies has to finish 2nd or lower  

If Rea is in with a chance to secure the title on Saturday in Race One, he has to finish in the top 12.

In the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship, Alfonso Coppola (SK Racing) could be crowned the first ever WorldSSP300 Champion in France.

Leading the championship heading into the penultimate round by one point, the Italian could take the title providing he wins the race and Marc Garcia (Halcourier Racing) finishes below 15th. On top of this Scott Deroue (MTM HS Kawasaki) and Mika Perez (WILSport Racedays) will need to finish outside of the top two.

The third title of the weekend could be secured in the European Superstock 1000 Championship, as it’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team)’s second chance to take the title this season. With an eight point lead in the standings ahead of the penultimate round of the European championship, providing the Italian wins the race, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) must finish in eighth position or lower.

If Rinaldi finishes in second position, Razgatlioglu must cross the line in 12th or lower whilst Florian Marino (Pata Yamaha Official STK1000 Team) should finish in 2nd position.

WorldSBK

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As the French Round commenced on Friday morning the World Champion led the way from Camier and Savadori

As the WorldSBK riders commenced their work at the Pirelli French Round early on Friday it was Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) who set the pace in FP1, lapping the 4.411km Magny-Cours circuit with a 1’37.849 time.

Registering a pace under the race lap record set by teammate Tom Sykes last year Rea showed he means business again this weekend as he headed the timesheet from Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia). On this occasion Sykes ended the session in tenth place as he returns to action after injuring a finger in Portugal at the last round.

Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) made it four different manufacturers in the top four, whilst his teammate Chaz Davies lapped fifth quickest.

Also in the top ten in the opening session of the #FrenchWorldSBK round were Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team), Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team), Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team), Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team) and the aforementioned Sykes.

After 15 minutes of the FP1 session Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) crashed at turn 6, losing the front end going into the right hander ahead of the Nürburgring chicane. He walked away unharmed and was able to return to the track to complete 18 laps in total, ending up 14th fastest.

The WorldSBK riders will be back on track later this afternoon at the Pirelli French Round at 2.30pm local time for FP2.

WorldSBK

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Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours could be the setting for a historic World Superbike Championship round this weekend, as Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) is in the position to take the title for the third consecutive season.

The weekend holds even more importance for Kawasaki, as they could secure the manufacturers title this weekend as the team wait in anticipation to see Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team)’s levels of fitness following his operation last week.

At a circuit in which Rea has secured the double in 2015, and off the back of a stunning weekend in Portugal were the Northern Irish rider seemed to be riding on rails, it will be hard to slow him down on the ZX-10RR. Prepared to make some changes to his green machine, the 31 year old is ready for the challenge and is only focusing on the racing, opposed to the major challenge ahead of him.

Hoping to find some extra confidence on corner entry, Rea will have an interesting weekend ahead of him.

“I'm excited for this weekend,” begins Rea. “Especially after such a strong weekend in Portimao, where we remained for a day of testing after the race."

"We found some positives that we can perhaps implement this weekend to give me some extra confidence on corner entry. Magny Cours is a great circuit and one that I've been strong at in the past." He added

"The circuit itself requires a little compromise when setting up the bike and we will also have to keep in mind the weather, as at this time of the year anything can happen. This weekend is the first opportunity we have to try to win the 2017 WorldSBK championship."

"I want to put that out of my mind for now and go and do my best in both races. I'm confident with how the ZX-10RR is now, and that we can go and fight for race wins.” Concluded Rea

On the other side of the garage, British rider Sykes will be focusing on his fitness levels following his monster crash in FP3 at Autodromo Internacional do Algarve. Undergoing surgery in Barcelona just two weeks ago on his dislocated left little finger and cracked wrist, Sykes is prepared to take each session a step at a time. Heading to a circuit the British rider is fond of, he is hoping his fitness levels will keep up throughout the weekend.
 
Sykes explains his expectations ahead of the weekend: “I had a successful operation and now we are doing things on the medical side to make it as comfortable as possible for me to ride this weekend. We will play it by ear and on Friday we’ll try to build up to the full weekend of racing."

"Magny Cours is a circuit I generally enjoy. It is not a flowing circuit in terms of lots of lean angle, but it is a circuit where it changes direction though chicanes and has some stop-and-start areas.”

 

         

 

 

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