World Superbike

Rea Closes on Record with French Double

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Jonathan Rea will head to the final round of 2015 in Qatar with the chance to break the all-time World Superbike points record for a single season after winning race two at Magny Cours. Rea’s fourteenth win of the season brings him to within 24 points of Colin Edwards’ 2002 record with two races remaining in Losail.

With the damp, drizzly conditions of race one giving way to bright sunshine, Leon Haslam made a much greater fist of things from pole position, leading Rea on the opening lap. The Aprilia rider was shuffled back to fourth on lap three by a forceful move from the new champion at Imola but Leon remained part of an all-British leading quartet.

The fall-out from Rea’s move on Haslam saw Chaz Davies sneak through into the lead with Tom Sykes also piling the pressure on his teammate but by the time the race reached half distance, Jonathan had reasserted his authority. With the Ducati Panigale failing to offer the same drive as the Kawasaki ZX-10R down the back straight, Chaz was powerless to stop Rea breezing past on lap ten and from that point onwards, the identity of the winner was never in doubt.

Davies still had enough to see off Sykes for second, putting him in the driver’s seat for the runner-up spot in the championship, but Haslam’s race fell apart in the latter stages as he fell into the clutches of Michael van der Mark’s Honda. The Dutchman eventually prevailed to finish fourth, matching his race one result, with Haslam fifth ahead of the second PATA machine of Sylvain Guintoli.

Niccolo Canepa was seventh ahead of Jordi Torres and Luca Scassa while Alex Lowes paid the price for a poor opening lap, ending the afternoon in tenth.

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