WorldSBK Magny-Cours Superpole Race & Race 2 Results: Redding makes Rea wait

Jonathan Rea’s celebratory champagne remains on ice after victory for Scott Redding in the final WorldSBK race at Magny-Cours prevented the perceived champion-elect from getting the job done with a round in hand.

Rea came into the weekend needing a 62 point buffer between himself and Redding by its conclusion in order to lift a sixth WorldSBK crown in France, rather than waiting for the Estoril finale in two weeks’ time.

After his win in race one, Rea certainly looked on course for the feat in the Superpole Race as he cruised to an 11th win of the season in tricky weather conditions, which in turn lifts him to 99 WorldSBK career wins.

However, the form book flipped over for race two - held in drying conditions at the end of a weekend that was almost entirely sodden - as Redding sprung forth with an impressively dominant display, the ex-MotoGP man carving his way up the order to win by three seconds.

The Ducati rider’s fifth win of the season, he will nonetheless need a minor miracle to overhaul the 59 point deficit to Rea. As it stands, a 13th place finish in the first of the three Estoril races would be enough for the title to go green for a sixth year in a row.

Behind Rea in the Superpole Race, Alex Lowes followed his team-mate home to record Kawasaki’s first 1-2 result since the opening round of the season in Australia, while Michael van der Mark popped up into third position to make amends for a crash scuppering a similar result in race one.

Redding was fourth ahead of Ducati team-mate Chaz Davies in fifth, position, with Loris Baz, Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Garrett Gerloff completing the top eight.

In the Race 2, Redding was chased home valiantly by Baz, the Frenchman scoring his second podium on home soil aboard the Ten Kate Yamaha, while Davies fended off the late attentions of Rea for third.

van der Mark took control of the factory Yamaha challenge in fifth place, from Rinaldi, Lowes and Gerloff, the American impressing again to defeat Toprak Razgatlioglu.

Honda endured a desperate weekend with Leon Haslam - who crashed out of fifth on the last lap in race one - only able to manage 11th and 13th, while Alvaro Bautista endured a miserable weekend with a meagre 12th, 14th and 15th.

However, Honda somehow still fared better than BMW who qualified 1-2 on Saturday, only to crash out at Turn 1 in Race 1 when they were caught up innocently in an early tangle. Despite getting to start there again for the Superpole Race, Laverty plummeted back to 15th, while Sykes was forced to pit with tech issues. They ended the weekend with a 14th and 10th respectively in Race 2.

2020 WorldSBK Magny-Cours - Superpole Race Results

2020 WorldSBK Magny-Cours - Race Results 2