The champion is not taking an early vacation just yet: Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) roared ahead to grab a phenomenal double at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours as the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship shut up shop for Round 11 and the European season. The Northern Irishman has now made it eight consecutive victories in a row, matching the best WorldSBK winning streak since Troy Bayliss did the same back in 2006.
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) started from second on the grid and immediately grabbed the holeshot, powering away from Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) and Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), while Race Two polesitter Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) quickly fell down the order. But inside just half a lap Rea had already managed to climb into third position and set his sights on the race lead, eventually managing to outpace van der Mark at the Imola chicane in lap 3.
Davies leading, Rea in hot pursuit – the same scenario we’ve witnessed countless times across the years, and as recently as Race Two in Portimao. Even with an unassailable margin of points separating them in the standings, the pair fought as fiercely as ever. Rea singled out the Adelaide hairpin as the point to make his pass, but lap after lap the moment didn’t come, the Welshman forcing his Ducati in front on the exit every time, with the Kawasaki rider twice running in too hot. But then Davies opened the door in lap 12 through turn 9, and Rea emphatically put his foot in, flying into the race lead. With an open track ahead, the KRT rider was just too strong to match, with Davies crossing the line in second and van der Mark putting his R1 onto the podium again in third.
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) couldn’t return to the rostrum after his P2 yesterday, but the move he put over Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) with one lap on the clock did net him P4 in Race Two, with the Italian following behind and completing the top five.
Savadori managed to steady his pace after a few dubitative opening laps and claimed sixth place, closing off his best weekend of the season. Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) crossed the line in seventh and saves some points from a
mostly disappointing weekend, with Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team) in eighth and as the top independent rider.
Leon Camier (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) returns to the top ten for the first time since his injury in July, leaving Magny-Cours with a P9, with hometown boy Loris Baz (GULF Althea BMW Racing Team) closing out the top ten. Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) crossed the line in 11th, with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) in 12th.
That’s a wrap in France! WorldSBK now leaves Europe behind until 2019, but there’s still two rounds more to come, Round 12 kicks off at the brand-new San Juan Circuit in Argentina in just two weeks’ time.
P1 – Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
“It’s incredibly, absolutely unbelievable and I want to thank all my team for getting me here today. I made some smart choices on the opening lap, and then I had a little tussle with van der Mark which let Chaz get a bit further away, but once I got onto the back of him he was so difficult to pass as he rode a perfect race, but I picked my moment after a few failed attempts and then got my head down. It was unbelievable. I was really worried about using the gold fairings today and the team were pushing really hard, so I thought I’d use my gold helmet as well and it paid off. I’m going to forget today, think about yesterday and go out and party really, really hard tonight.”
P2 – Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“It was tough, very tough! I’m super happy and I knew it was possible to have a good rhythm at the start, but I needed to make a good start in itself, which I did and then put in a move at the first corner. Then I got my head down early to try and make a bit of a gap as I didn’t know how I was going to fair in the latter half of the race; I could see on my pit board that Jonny was closing but not overly quickly, and once he got side-by-side with me it was all about trying to make life as difficult as possible for him and hit my marks so that if he tried to overtake he’d run deep, which happened plenty of times. Once he got past I didn’t really have an answer for him, but overall I’m very happy for him as it’s been a long few months since Misano – it felt like we really earned this one.”
P3 – Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team)
“Really happy with today’s result as yesterday wasn’t so good. We changed a lot on the bike this morning but it didn’t feel so good, however for the race I got a really good start and was really aggressive; I thought my pace was good but Jonny and Chaz had a little bit extra. But anyway, I’m really happy to be on podium and hopefully next time out in Argentina we can be on the podium again.”
WorldSSP: Cluzel out-battles Cortese to win on home soil
Frenchman takes fourth win of the season, with Championship leader and Mahias completing the podium
Jules Cluzel (NRT) secured his fourth win of the season at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours as the Frenchman took a controlling victory to beat Championship rival and second place Sandro Cortese (Kallio Racing) at the ACERBIS French Round, with fellow countryman Lucas Mahias (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) third on the rostrum as teammate and pole man Federico Caricasulo crashed out on the final lap.
It was Mahias who grabbed the holeshot as the lights went out from second on the grid as he and Cluzel made it an immediate French 1-2 at the front, before the latter took the lead heading into Turn 5 on the opening lap. Further back, Championship leader Cortese didn’t get off to the best start but the German rider soon found his rhythm to reel in the leaders a couple of laps later, making his way up to P2 after consecutive passes on Mahias and Caricasulo at the Adelaide hairpin.
The four leaders had broken clear from home rider Corentin Perolari (GMT94 Yamaha) at the mid-stage of the race, with Cluzel still holding P1 from Cortese before the 2012 Moto3™ World Champion made a move down into Turn 5. The Kallio Racing rider couldn’t make it stick though, but that didn’t stop the German trying it again a lap later, but the same happened – Cluzel getting the better exit to hold station. It was rinse and repeat for the duo a lap later as the two leaders in the Championship brilliantly fought for French honours.
Heading into the final lap, Cluzel had managed to get his head down to edge out a 0.7 advantage at the front, with Cortese suffering from front tyre wear which left him firmly in the clutches of the two GRT bikes behind. Then, late drama surfaced. Fourth place Mahias went for a pass into Turn 14 on teammate Caricasulo, the latter running a slightly wider line and losing the front trying to defend his position – hugely detrimental for the Italian’s title aspirations, who remounted to claim P13.
This left Cluzel to claim his fourth win of the season as the gap in the Championship between him and first place Cortese now stands at 11 points with two races remaining – Mahias claimed a home podium, his first since Thailand. Thomas Gradinger (NRT) was fourth as he continues to impress in his rookie WorldSSP season, with Randy Krummenacher (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) completing the top five after a difficult race. Sixth was home rider Perolari, a great race for the Frenchman after battling with the leaders in the opening exchanges, with Raffaele De Rosa (MV Agusta
Reparto Corse by Vamag) crossing the line seventh – the Italian losing ground in the Championship.
After his podium in Portugal, Kyle Smith (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda) could only manage eighth in France, with Hikari Okubo (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) getting the better of teammate Hector Barbera – P9 and P10 respectively for the Kawasaki paring.
The title race remains tight as the paddock heads off to Argentina for a brand-new challenge – who will emerge victorious as Cortese and Cluzel go head-to-head once again.
P1 – Jules Cluzel (NRT)
“Wow! It’s so, so, so good! Every two years I have won here, so I needed to win this year! It was a long race but I enjoyed it a lot and I thought the penultimate lap was the last one, but when I saw the chequered flag I was like “Oh shit, another one!”, so I pushed a lot and tried to make minimal mistakes, and we did it!”
WorldSSP300: Carrasco claims historic WorldSSP300 title as Valle snatches maiden win in dramatic race
Unstoppable Ana becomes first female motorcycle World Champion
In an unbelievable WorldSSP300 race at the ACERBIS French Round, Ana Carrasco (DS Junior Team) became the first ever female motorcycle racing World Champion after clawing her way back from P25 on the grid to finish P13 at the chequered flag, just enough to see the Spaniard beat Mika Perez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) by a single point. The fellow Spaniard lost out on a Championship winning P1 to eventual race winner Daniel Valle (BCD Yamaha MS Racing) at Turn 15 on the final lap.
As the lights went out, Tom Edwards (Nutec – Benjan – Kawasaki) got the holeshot from P3 on the grid to lead the field on the opening lap, with title contenders Scott Deroue (Motoport Kawasaki) and Perez slotting into P2 and P3. Meanwhile, Carrasco remained outside the top 20 as it looked like an increasingly difficult task for her to be crowned Champion. But then, disaster struck for second in the title race Deroue with eight laps to go as he battled for the race lead, a mechanical failure leaving the Kawasaki rider having to pull into pitlane and out of Championship contention – desperately unlucky for the Dutchman.
This left Perez and Luca Grunwald (Freudenberg KTM WorldSSP Team) as the only two who could oust Carrasco from P1 in the Championship, both of whom were in at the front of the leading pack. The battle for first kept changing in classic WorldSSP300 fashion, with the Championship standings adjusting corner by corner as Perez kept threatening the lead of the race – Carrasco now starting to make her way into the points with three laps to go.
The tension was palpable and heading onto the final lap as Perez needed the race win to claim the title. The Spaniard sat in fourth but soon carved his way to the front halfway through the lap – Carrasco meanwhile was P13. Perez kept his cool to lead heading into Turn 15, but Valle then made his move – making it stick, giving Perez no time to respond. Valle took his maiden victory, Perez was a distraught second as Carrasco came over the line in 13th to create history by a single point.
Rounding out the podium was Manuel Gonzalez (BCD Pertamina Junior Team by MS Racing) to make it an all-Spanish podium after recovering from a mistake midway through the race, with Maria Herrera (BCD Yamaha MS Racing) producing a great ride to claim P4 at the flag. Fifth was Italian Luca Bernardi (Team Trasimeno), with sixth place going to Grunwald who finishes fourth in the overall standings. Seventh place at Magny-Cours was Nick Kalinin (GP Project Team), eighth was Dutchman Glenn Van Straalen (KTM Fortron Racing Team), Enzo De La Vega (GP Project Team) claims ninth after leading his home race at stages, with fifth in the Championship Dorren Loureiro (DS Junior Team) completing the top ten.
After a stunning and drama-filled final round of the 2018 WorldSSP300 Championship, history was created as Ana Carrasco takes the title. What a way to end another phenomenal season.
P1 – Daniel Valle (BCD Yamaha MS Racing)
“This is amazing, I never thought I could finish the season with a victory. In the first part of the race I was always at the front, but in the middle I made a mistake so I fell back. But I thought to myself, ‘Dani, this is the last race of the season, so you have to put in 100%’, so I went for it and here we are! I want to say thank you to my team, my sponsors, all of the people who support me; this could never have happened if they weren’t with me, so thank you to everyone.”
Ana Carrasco (DS Junior Team)
“Its unbelievable for me, we worked so hard to be here. I can only say thank you to all the Kawasaki team, I can only say thank you to David Salom and all the team, they worked hard to help me arrive here and also to my family because they gave me everything this year, and my friends. I wanted to dedicate this title to Luis Salom, we were good friends and the day we lost him I promised myself to dedicate my first title to him.”