In WorldSBK the Championship is still open and the world title will be decided in Portugal; Frenchman Mahias takes Race 2 in WorldSSP and Garcia wins in WorldSSP300
Magny-Cours (France), 4 October 2020 – The penultimate Round of the MOTUL FIM World Superbike Championship has come to a close at the Nevers Magny-Cours Circuit after a weekend characterised by inclement weather which did not fail to provide spectacular upsets and surprises.
In the Tissot Superpole Race, five-time World Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) was once again untouchable in the wet, winning the second race of the weekend. Finishing second was his teammate Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) and third place went to Yamaha rider Michael van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1).
However, the deck was reshuffled in WorldSBK Race 2, where Ducati rookie Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) finished first ahead of home town hero Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R1) and teammate Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) on the third step of the podium. Jonathan Rea finished this race fourth. This takes him to a fifty-nine point lead ahead of the rider in second place, Scott Redding, which is just 3 points too many to claim the world title, which will instead be assigned in Portugal at the last Round of the Championship.
On the tyre front, the rain dictated forced choices for all the riders in the three classes, so the WorldSSP and WorldSSP300 categories raced exclusively on Pirelli DIABLOTM Rain tyres (option R). As for the premier class, there was great satisfaction in the Pirelli camp with the performance of the brand new rear Rain solution with X1251 specification, proposed on this occasion and developed to guarantee better performance in wet conditions. In fact, this solution (option Ra) was chosen by almost every rider on the grid and received extremely positive feedback from the riders. This round gave the Milan-based manufacturer a chance to gather important information on its tyres in wet conditions, which will be useful in continuing the research and development operations pursued by the brand with the long "P” in developing the range of Pirelli competition tyres available to motorcycle riders all over the world.
Tissot Superpole Race:
The rain began to fall again a few minutes before the start of the Tissot Superpole Race, where it was once again Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) who moved into the lead ahead of the rest, followed by teammate Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) and Yamaha riders Michael Van Der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1) and Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team / Yamaha YZF R1). In the meantime, Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) was also demonstrating an outstanding pace after starting from the tenth spot on the grid, climbing up through the ranks to take fourth place ahead of Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) and Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R1) who were battling for fifth. Redding continued his comeback ride and caught up with the Dutch Yamaha rider. The final laps were marked by an intense battle between the two riders that continued all the way down to the last turn, where Van Der Mark came out on top, finishing on the third step of the podium. Second place went to Alex Lowes and the win went to the Reigning World Champion who also did the race fast lap on the tenth and final lap with an excellent time of 1’47.584.
Tissot Superpole Race Standings:
WorldSBK Race 2:
At 2:00 in the afternoon, the anxiously awaited second race of the Pirelli French round started, which had all the potential to be a determining factor for the world title. Pole man Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) was best off the grid, moving into the lead ahead of Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R), who gained two spots at the start, and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR). Redding stayed hot on the heels of Rea and, after several attempts, he managed to overtake him on the fourth lap. The leading duo was followed by Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R1) and Ducati riders Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN / Ducati Panigale V4 R) and Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R), locked in a duel for fourth. In the first half of the race, Rea fell back to third and Davies also overtook him with eight laps left to race. However, the defending World Champion was having none of it, threatening to take the podium position back from the Welshman’s Ducati several times, which would have locked up his sixth world title, but thanks to an outstanding defence, Chaz Davies finished third behind home town hero Loris Baz and Scott Redding.
WorldSBK Race 2 Standings:
WorldSSP Race 2:
Kawasaki rider Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R) started well, followed by pole man Kyle Smith (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6). Behind them were Steven Odendaal (EAB Ten Kate Racing / Yamaha YZF R6) and the duel for fourth between Spaniard Manuel Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team / Kawasaki ZX-6R) and Italian Raffaele De Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse / MV Agusta F3 675). In the first half of the race, Can Alexander Öncü (Turkish Racing Team / Kawasaki ZX-6R), after starting from the last row on the grid, was the protagonist of a thrilling comeback, moving in behind Smith. Chasing him was Estonian rider Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing / Yamaha YZF R6) who did the fastest lap of the race on the fourteenth lap and finished third after the Turkish rider crashed out. Finishing first was the home town hero, Frenchman Lucas Mahias, taking home his first win of the season, with Kyle Smith finishing second.
WorldSSP Race 2 Standings:
WorldSSP300 Race 2:
Race 2 of the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship closed out the Pirelli French Round race weekend at the Nevers Magny-Cours Circuit. On this occasion, the winner was Marc Garcia (2R Racing / Kawasaki Ninja 400) with second place going to Dutchman Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT / Kawasaki Ninja 400), who maintains the leadership in the Championship, and a third-place finish for Hugo De Cancellis (Team TRASIMENO / FRA Yamaha YZF-R3).
The Pirelli solutions chosen by the riders for the Tissot Superpole Race, WorldSBK Race 2 and WorldSSP Race 2:
The return of the rain a few minutes before the start of the Tissot Superpole Race meant that any possible doubts were in vain when it came to tyre choice between the intermediate solution and the wet tyre. And so, the entire starting grid, except for Velentin Debise (OUTDO Kawasaki TPR / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) who mounted the standard SCR1, confirmed the solutions used in Race 1: on the front, the standard DIABLOTM Rain tyres (option R) and on the rear, the X1251 Rain development solution (option Ra).
In WorldSBK Race 2, all the riders on the grid continued with the Rain solution (option R) on the front. As for the rear, the most popular choice was the X1251 Rain development solution (option Ra). Two French riders, on the other hand, preferred the standard Rain solution (option Rb): Loris Baz, who finished the race second, and Valentin Debise.
Last, but not least, for Race 2 in WorldSSP, the riders also opted for the standard DIABLOTM Rain wet solution (option R) for both the front and the rear.
Pirelli statistics for the Tissot Superpole Race:
Pirelli statistics for WorldSBK Race 2:
Pirelli statistics for WorldSSP Race 2:
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