At Magny-Cours, Razgatlioglu on his Kawasaki takes his first win of the championship with standard Pirelli tyres, the 800th race in WorldSBK history
After an incredible comeback ride from 16th place, the Turk snatches the win on the final lap from championship leader Jonathan Rea, second, while Tom Sykes on BMW finishes on the bottom step of the podium
Kawasaki is also the only motorcycle manufacturer to have been on the track for every race of the World Championship for factory derivatives from 1988 to the present
Today at the Nevers Magny-Cours circuit, rider Toprak Razgatlioglu with is Turkish Puccetti Racing team Kawasaki ZX-10RR won Race 1 of the MOTUL FIM World Superbike Championship.This gives the Turkish rider his first win of the Championship season which also coincided with the 800th race in the history of the Championship for factory derivative bikes.
After starting from the sixteenth spot on the grid, the young talent with the Akashi-based manufacturer managed to claw his way up through the ranks, moving into fourth place already by the third lap and then, just on the final turns, managing to overtake Jonathan Rea to finish first ahead of the four-time World Champion and Tom Sykes, third with BMW. It was hard luck for Michael Van Der Mark who rode a respectable race, leading until the nineteenth lap when a crash forced him to a DNF.
In this first race of the weekend on French soil, almost all the riders opted for Pirelli tyres in the larger size range, specifically the SC1 in 125/70 for the front and SC0 in 200/65 for the rear.
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR), arriving in Magny-Cours with every intention of clinching the Championship to win his fifth consecutive world title, took pole position with a time of 1'53.955 in the Superpole® session which was held in the morning on a wet track.
In Race 1, the Northern Irishman started well, but it was immediately clear that he would not have it easy this time. As early as the second lap, Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR) was able to overtake him for the lead and shortly thereafter, Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) also managed to get past him, only to return the position on the following lap.During the fourth lap, Davies crashed after making contact with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) who, in the meantime, managed to move into fourth place.
On the subsequent laps, Rea, Sykes and Michael Van Der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1) gave the fans a show with a race full of passes and upsets, each taking a turn in the lead. The Dutchman managed to maintain the lead until the nineteenth lap when a crash forced him to a DNF. Jonathan Rea exploited the situation, moving back into the lead, followed closely by Toprak Razgatliogluand Loris Baz. On the penultimate lap, Baz relinquished third place to Sykes while Razgatlioglu seemed not to want to settle for second and, just when everything seemed to be written in stone, he managed to overtake Rea a few corners from the end, finishing first and taking his first ever FIM World Superbike Championship win.
WorldSBK Race 1:
1) T. Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
2) J. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
3) T. Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR)
4) L. Baz (Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R1)
5) Á. Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
6) A. Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
7) L. Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
8) M. Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1)
9) E. Laverty (Team Goeleven / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
10) S. Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1)
11) J. Torres (Team Pedercini Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
12) L. Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
13) M. Van Der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
14) M. Rinaldi (Barni Racing Team / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
15) A. Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
16) M. Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR)
17) S. Barrier (Brixx Performance / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
18) R. Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
RT) L. Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
RT) C. Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
The Pirelli solutions chosen by the WorldSBK riders for Race 1:
In Race 1, almost all the riders opted for tyres in the larger size range. Specifically, for the front no less than 17 riders chose the standard SC1 in 125/70 size (option B), whereas on the rear, 18 went with the standard SC0 in 200/65 size (option B).Making a different choice for the front were Yamaha riders Michael Van Der Mark, Alex Lowes and Marco Melandri who used the new Y0772 SC1 development tyre (option A). For the rear, on the other hand, Eugene Laverty and Alessandro Delbianco were the only to riders who chose the SCX solution (option X).
Pirelli statistics for WorldSBK Race 1:
• Winner of the PIRELLI BEST LAP AWARD: Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) in 1'37.759 at the 17th lap
• Most used front solution: standard SC1 125/70 (17 out of 20 riders)
• Most used rear solution: standard SC0 200/65 (18 out of 20 riders)
• Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tyres: 295.9 km/h, achieved by Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) in the 11th lap
• Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the Superbike class: 5 front and 7 rear
• Number of tyres available for each Superbike rider: 67, including 34 front and 33 rear • Air temperature: 19° C
• Asphalt temperature: 21° C