MAGNY-COURS, France – Jonathan Rea clinched his record fifth World Superbike Championship title in style Sunday with a race victory at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours.
Rea’s win was his 12th of the season and completed an incredible points comeback, allowing him to clinch the crown two rounds early after being 61 markers in arrears early on in the season.
Starting from the pole for the first time in WorldSBK, Toprak Razgatlioglu couldn’t make the same lightning start which saw him leap up the order in the two previous races.
Rea edged up the inside into turn one to grab the lead but he wouldn’t stay ahead for long, as Michael van der Mark used the slipstream to hit the front at the Adelaide hairpin.
The moment which ultimately proved decisive in the World Superbike Championship battle came on lap two, as Razgatlioglu lost the rear of his Kawasaki at the exit of turn 13.
As the Turkish rider fought to control the slide, Alvaro Bautista was powerless to avoid the Saturday race winner and both riders were eliminated on the spot.
With the words ‘Bautista out’ displayed on his pit-board next time around, Rea now knew that a race victory would see him make history.
Michael van der Mark was keen to ensure that Rea didn’t have an unchallenged run to a fifth WorldSBK crown, keeping the Ulsterman at bay until the Imola chicane on lap six.
The Dutchman didn’t trail for long, however, with the Yamaha proving a formidable motorcycle down the backstretch toward turn five, an advantage van der Mark utilized to power past on lap eight.
As the race ticked over half distance, Rea mounted another attack on the leader with van der Mark going defensive into Adelaide. The championship leader was wise to this tactic though and drew alongside into the following Nurburgring chicane, making the move stick on lap 13.
With van der Mark no longer close enough to make use of the slipstream next time around, Rea had the margin he needed to ease clear.
Despite a valiant effort from van der Mark, the advantage grew to more than one second, allowing Rea to close out the final laps and claim his 83rd career WorldSBK victory.
Van Der Mark hung on for second ahead of teammate Alex Lowes, marking the first double podium of the season for the Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team, with Ducati’s Chaz Davies and Ten Kate Racing’s Loriz Baz finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.
Marco Melandri, Leon Haslam, Tom Sykes, Leon Camier and Jordi Torres filled out the top 10.