Aruba.it Ducati’s Chaz Davies took a sensational race one victory at Magny-Cours after a gamble to start the 21-lap contest on the intermediate tyres paid off in the changeable conditions.
Davies has looked strong in practice and threatened to challenge for the victory in the dry conditions. This morning’s Superpole was run in wet conditions, though the rain eased throughout and the sun began to poke its way through the clouds as the riders formed up on the grid for race one.
A number of the front-runners opted for the full wet tyres, but Davies threw the dice and started on the intermediates. At the start this saw him plummet down the order to 12th as he felt his way around the slippery French circuit, whilst up the front Tom Sykes led teammate Jonathan Rea and the fast-starting Honda duo of Nicky Hayden and Michael van der Mark.
MV Agusta’s Leon Camier was able to close right up on the battling Kawasakis and Hondas, and the top five began to pull away from the rest of the pack. By lap eight, Camier had moved ahead of Rea for second and took the lead away from Sykes a lap later.
Comfortable in the conditions, the British rider got the hammer down and pulled away from the KRT pairing. By this time, several riders were boxing for slicks, most notably Hayden. However, the American’s race was cut short due to a technical issue and he was forced to park up on lap 10.
Whilst more and more riders came in to change tyres, the top four of Camier, Sykes, Rea and Ioda’s Lorenzo Savadori were continuing to circulate on the full wet tyres, whilst Davies was now climbing up the order inside the top 10 and Van der Mark was setting the timing screens ablaze in 11th.
Lap 11, and the Kawasakis headed for pit lane, but there chances of victory had now slipped away. The minimum time allowed in pit lane was 45 seconds and Van der Mark on slicks was 45 seconds adrift at the start of the 10th lap. With Rea 47 points clear in the standings, all he needed to do was keep Sykes at arms length and minimise the damage, whereas the Yorkshireman really needed as many bikes between himself and Rea to cut the gap back down.
The pair re-joined in ninth and 10th place respectively, Rea ahead of Sykes, though the 2013 World Champion found a way through two laps later at Turn 5. Meanwhile, Camier had decided to throw the dice and stay out on wets in a bid for MV’s first WorldSBK victory. But his tyres were beginning to fall apart as the track continued to dry and he soon dropped behind Savadori.
By now, Davies had made his way up to third and made light work of the struggling Camier and Savadori to take the lead on lap 15. Van der Mark was up to fifth on the same lap, but got caught in traffic and this halted his progress somewhat. Once clear, he was able to quickly climb his way into second but was only lapping two seconds quicker than Davies, and the gap stood at 13 seconds.
The shot at victory was now gone for the Dutch rider and second wasn’t secure either. Having broken free of his teammate, the pair almost making contact at Turn 11 on lap 17, Sykes had carved his way into third and was only half a second behind Van der Mark on the final lap.
Twitter: Near miss!
@jonathanrea avoids drama as he almost goes into the back of teammate @TheRealTomSykes
https://t.co/cQ1kRU4L6p (@WorldSBK)
But it was too little too late and the Honda rider held onto second, whilst Sykes had to settle for third. To make matters worse, Rea had cleared Savadori at the final corner for fourth to keep his championship lead at 44 points ahead of tomorrow’s second race. At the front, Davies cruised across the line for one of his finest victories in WorldSBK and his first at Magny-Cours.
Though not on the rostrum, Savadori’s decision to stay out on the wet tyres did yield a well-earned top five finish whilst Camier slipped seventh. French wild card Matthieu Lagrive opted for an inter front, wet rear and used it to excellent effect to finish and impressive sixth after qualifying a similarly respectable ninth.
Xavi Fores took the chequered flag in eighth ahead of Sylvain Guintoli and Alex De Angelis. Alex Lowes battled through the pain in his left foot for 11th, whilst Josh Brookes’ gamble to start on the slick tyres didn’t pay off and he finished 12th. Roman Ramos, Jordi Torres and Luca Scassa completed the points paying positions.
Imre Toth and Dominic Schmitter joined Hayden on the sidelines, whilst Aruba.it’s Davide Giugliano was declared unfit due to a shoulder contusion, a hangover injury from his Lausitzring crash two weeks ago.
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