WorldSBK Magny-Cours: Rea, Razgatlioglu in closest-ever Superpole

In what was a titanic battle, the closest ever WorldSBK pole margin was set at Magny-Cours with both Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) setting an identical pole time although Rea heads the grid courtesy of a faster second-fastest lap time.

Riders hit the circuit straight away, eager to get as much dry track time as possible, having lost 95% of Friday.

With a new soft tyre for the front which offered more initial grip at their disposal, riders got down to business and were right on the pace.

As the first laps came in, it was Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and teammate Jonathan Rea who went immediately quicker than Toprak Razgatlioglu’s (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) time from FP3, whilst Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was third, with Razgatlioglu fourth and Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) completed the top five.

However, on his second flying lap, Razgatlioglu rocketed to the top, with a 1’36.354 being the new benchmark, two tenths ahead of Lowes.

Razgatlioglu pushed on for another lap but made a mistake at Turn 6, having to go across the run-off. With eight minutes to go, everyone was back inside the pitlane and preparing for the final runs. Notable riders who were seeking an improvement outside of the top five included home-hero Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW), who was only tenth, one place ahead of Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing). Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) was only 13th, one place ahead of the returning Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team). With the calm in pitlane bringing the tension before the on-track storm to pole position, all bets were off going into the final five minutes.

Bautista and Lowes hit the track straight