The opening race of the Magny Cours FIM Superbike World Championship weekend had begun in wet conditions but the track dried out through all 21-laps, after which Tom Sykes (KRT) had taken third place and Jonathan Rea (KRT) fourth.

Both Superpole winner Rea and second fastest qualifier Sykes started out on full wet tyre options at the start of the first race but changed them after making a pit stop as conditions improved. Sykes took on slick tyres and almost took second place as a result, on the very last lap. Rea earned fourth place on a set of intermediate tyres.

The entire race was punctuated by many riders moving rapidly back and forward through the rankings but early leader Sykes led, with confidence, for eight laps. Rea was in second place until lap eight, as a dry line appeared more emphatically with every passing lap. Realising they had to stop for tyres, the KRT riders entered pitlane together, and went out together, dropping to the lower reaches of the top ten as a short-lived consequence of their pit lane entry.

On their different tyre choices they rode at the same pace for some time but eventually Sykes passed by Rea and then made up ground and positions, running at a high pace. Tom eventually got to within touching distance of second place on the very last lap. He set the fastest lap of the race on the very last circuit, posting a 1’40.491.

Rea had played a patient game to take a fourth place finish, passing one rider on the final lap to end up just one place behind his main championship rival Sykes. Jonathan had won Superpole in wet conditions earlier in the day, his seventh Superpole success of his career but his first in 2016 on the all-new Ninja ZX-10R.

Chaz Davies won the opening Magny Cours race, with Michael van der Mark second. In the championship points, Jonathan has 406; Tom is 44 behind on 362, with Davies now 86 points behind Jonathan and in third place overall.

Race two at Magny Cours will take place on Sunday October 2nd, at 13.00. Dry weather is expected but KRT is ready to face any condition after Saturday’s ever-changing wet and dry experience.


Tom Sykes, stated: 

“That was a really tricky race. Some riders went on intermediates and some on wets. I was one of those on full wets, as I wanted to be a bit safer in the early laps. Chaz went on intermediates, and it paid off for him in the end. I think we had a good race, considering we had a pit stop. After that it was definitely a good comeback through the field. The lap times were really competitive compared to the others guys. We just ran out of time, but that is racing. I am grateful to be on the podium in such tricky conditions, which could have easily gone another way. Tomorrow I hope it is fully dry and we can improve the result. In fully wet conditions we were good, also in dry conditions, so we are prepared for any of those. It is just that you can’t really make a perfect set-up for those ‘in between’ conditions. Tomorrow we will be prepared in any case.”

Jonathan Rea, stated: 

“It was a race of strategy today and unfortunately we were not on the winning one. The bike was working OK and in the first part of the race I was patient, just marking time behind Tom. Our main opposition right now is Tom so when he was on rain tyres it made the decision of when to come into the pits much easier. I am just a little bit disappointed in myself for not being clear to ask for slick tyres at the pit stop. I did not have complete confidence and I expected the intermediate would last much longer, as the track was taking a long time to dry. When I saw that he had exited from the pit stop with slick tyres it was very difficult to find the same edge grip as the slick tyres had. All in all, I am happy, because we made some mistakes today but we finished fourth in the race and did not lose too many points. Being the championship leader we had to adopt the more conservative option today, rather than the more aggressive one.”



Behind the top two KRT machines stand-in rider for the Pedercini Racing Kawasaki squad, Matthieu Lagrive, was an impressive sixth at his home circuit, after choosing a mixture of a full wet front and intermediate rear for the whole race. Roman Ramos (GoEleven Kawasaki) placed 13th, Saeed Al Sulaiti (Pedercini Racing Kawasaki) was 18th and Gianluca Vizziello (Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki) 21st. Vizziello’s team-mate Dominic Schmitter had to retire from the race.