WorldSBK heads to France with leaders tied on points

2021 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship
Round Eight Magny-Cours

This weekend the Superbike World Championship circus moves to Nevers Magny-Cours circuit for the eighth round of season 2021.

Inaugurated over 60 years ago in 1960, the Nevers Magny-Cours circuit is 4411 metres long and has nine right-handers and eight to the left, with a minimum bend radius of 5 metres and a maximum of 474.45 metres plus a finishing straight which measures 250 metres in length. The maximum slope uphill is 2.38 per cent, with a 2.68 per cent descent.

This track is characterised by sudden deceleration and re-acceleration changes, interspersed with medium length straights and plenty of altitude changes. In its default layout it also provides a hairpin (Adelaide) with one of the heaviest braking points present among the international circuits, arriving from a fast straight. The asphalt has a smooth and regular surface and therefore offers little natural grip, especially in case of low temperatures or in the wet. Moreover, in some points the riders are called to brake in the downhill sections putting the front tyre under stress.

After twenty-one races, the WorldSBK Riders Standings of the Superbike World Championship has never been so close, with Jonathan Rea, and Toprak Razgatlioglu on level points (311 points), followed by Scott Redding with 273 points.

Razgatlioglu took his first ever win at Magny-Cours back in 2014 in the STK600 class, of which he’d be Champion in 2015. Then, he took a first STK1000 podium there in 2016 with second, before in 2019, his first WorldSBK win in a final lap shoot-out with Jonathan Rea came from 16th on the grid. He doubled up in the Superpole Race but with it being wet in 2020, he’s yet to show his strengths at the track on a Yamaha.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu

“For me, France is a special place because of my first wins in 2019, but like I have said before: we focus only on the next races ahead. I am not thinking about the championship! I like the Magny-Cours circuit a lot, it has fast sections and areas for hard braking which I enjoy. My team has been working hard at every round to give me the best R1 for the races, and we have been ready to fight everywhere. It will not be easy, Jonny and Scott [Redding] are very strong, but we will see.”

However, if Toprak’s ready for the challenge then so is his title rival Jonathan Rea – he’s won eight races at Magny-Cours, all of them for Kawasaki and apart from 2016, it has been every year. Add on to that the fact he’s been on the podium in all but one race at Magny-Cours on a Kawasaki (Race 2, 2017), then you’d be hard-pushed to find someone with a better track record.

However, Rea’s coming into France on the backfoot, having relinquished his Championship lead and, in the last six races, handed 37-points to Razgatlioglu. Both enjoy the track and have already had final lap battles there before.

Jonathan Rea

“After the last few races, on new circuits for us, I am really excited to got to Magny Cours. It is a circuit where I have a lot of special memories, where we have been many times in the past, so we have a lot of data. Thankfully we had a full day of really nice weather at a Portimao test last week to keep working with the set-up of our Ninja ZX-10RR. I felt very good there and the condition fo the bike was very good. The bike set-up for Magny Cours is very similar to Portimao. It has a lot of heavy braking area but also changes of direction which really suit our bike. Now, with six rounds remaining in the championship we are past the halfway point and the next races will come along in very quick succession. The target is of course to win and to build some positive momentum into the last part of the year, which is going to be very intense. But I am excited, very motivated and can’t wait to get to France.”

Edging closer with each round is Scott Redding, as the Ducati star is now 38-points behind the top two in the title race, having been 81 back just six races ago. Redding’s been in top form lately; seven straight podiums and all of them within the top two positions. It’s a devastating run of form which neither Razgatlioglu nor Rea have matched so far this year. Redding’s in the best form of his career and with a win at Magny-Cours in 2020 to keep his title hopes alive, he’s one of the favourites.

Scott Redding

“Last year I enjoyed racing on a circuit that was new to me. It’s clear that this time I’ll have a little more experience and that could be important to get off to a good start right away. My goal is to continue on the path we have taken in the last few very positive races.”

In stark contrast, Redding’s Ducati team-mate Michael Ruben Rinaldi had a subdued weekend at Navarra where he took 15 points, but a return to the top six will be welcome at Magny-Cours, as he did in 2020.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi

“We can’t hide the fact that the last period has not been particularly positive for us. Now it’s time to turn the page. The contract signed for next season will give me great serenity to start working well with the team since FP1 on Friday.”

Toprak’s Pata Yamaha team-matre Andrea Locatelli also  hopes be back on the podium, having now established himself as a solid front-runner. He took a WorldSSP win at Magny-Cours in 2020, can he convert that into strong pace in WorldSBK though?

Andrea Locatelli

“Last year Magny-Cours was a new circuit for me in World Supersport, so I will focus on the references with the R1 WorldSBK in Free Practice in the beginning. I think we can do very well there, I like the layout and we have been strong now for the last three rounds. The goal is to get closer to the front, so I hope we can keep working and carry the momentum this weekend. For sure I would like to improve on our “standard” position of fourth, which is becoming something funny with my team! If we can work on a good set-up on Friday, I think it will be possible to push on the maximum to get some good results again.”

Rea’s Kawasaki team-mate Alex Lowes aims to fight for the podium despite a persistent injury, but he was on the podium twice at Magny-Cours for Kawasaki in 2020, so the pace is there.

Alex Lowes

“For Magny Cours I have some good memories from last year on the Kawasaki, with the podiums in rain conditions. I am hoping it is dry this time because we didn’t get any dry laps last year in Magny Cours, so I want to try the Ninja ZX-10RR around there in the dry. It is a track I have always enjoyed going to and I have always gone quite well at. I have said it for the last few races but the target is to be back, fighting for the podium. So that is the target for Magny Cours.”

It was an impressive weekend for BMW at Navarra, as they seemingly found form in the hotter conditions in comparison to where they had come from in the past couple of seasons. Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) achieved his tenth front row for BMW at Navarra and capitalised on that with two top-six finishes in Race 1 and the Superpole Race, before taking fifth in Race 2. He was on the front row at Magny-Cours in 2020 as part of BMW’s first ever Superpole 1-2, when Eugene Laverty took pole.

Tom Sykes

“I am definitely looking forward to the French round of the WorldSBK at Magny-Cours. It’s a circuit which has given the BMW podium success in the past and obviously for me my target is to add to that. The aim is also to maintain our recent improvement in form that we found for example at Navarra. That is the target for the weekend. Of course, there is still work to be done with the new BMW M 1000 RR so we will try our best to find the best balance and compromise to do this inside the race weekend.”

On the other side of the BMW garage, Michael van der Mark didn’t have the same weekend as Sykes, with seventh, eighth and ninth being the Dutchman’s results at Navarra. However, six Magny-Cours podiums could propel van der Mark back to the sharp end.

Michael van der Mark

“Magny-Cours is a track which I really enjoy riding. It always suits me. It has a bit of everything; fast and flowing sectors, stop-and-go corners, so it is a bit of a mix. Regarding the set-up of the bike, you also need to find some compromise here and there because it has all these different type of corners. I really love the first sector; that is one of my favourite parts of the track, but also the last sector is always nice for some good overtaking. I am looking forward to the weekend. We have improved our BMW M 1000 RR a lot and at Navarra, we struggled more with the high temperatures and I think we will not have that at Magny-Cours, so hopefully we have a bit more stable weekend. At Navarra, we made a big step lap-time wise in qualifying. Unfortunately for me it was so tight that I was still tenth, but if you look at the lap times, I made a huge step. We improved the performance there, so that is what we really need at Magny-Cours as well.”

Over at Honda, it was another difficult round endured by Team HRC as Alvaro Bautista and Leon Haslam worked hard to break into the top ten once again. For Bautista, there was just one point-scoring ride across the weekend with eighth in Race 2, whilst Leon Haslam’s only points came in Race 1 with 13th. Both lie outside the top ten in the Championship but could break into it it this weekend, with Bautista level on points with previous team-mate Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven).

Alvaro Bautista

“Magny-Cours is always tricky, largely due to the weather as you never know if it’s going to be wet, mixed conditions or whatever. Last year we barely had an opportunity to ride in the dry, so we don’t have much data in those conditions. The track has a bit of everything anyway, hard braking, long turns, and many changes of direction. It’s a tricky one, but we’re keen to continue our development and are focused on rounding out the season in the best way possible. I want an enjoyable end to my season with HRC.”

Leon Haslam

“Magny-Cours has been good for me in the past. Last year I battled hard with Toprak and others for fourth place, before unfortunately suffering a highside just before the end of the race. In the wet, I’m confident that we can fight for the podium this time, while in the dry, I know we’ve made progress and hopefully it can be a kinder circuit to us than some of the others so far.”

The Independent battle is as fierce as ever and whilst Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) has taken a slight dip in form across the last two rounds, he’s comfortably clear of the next-best Independent rider Chaz Davies by 43 points.

However, closing in on Davies is young Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing), who is now just five-points behind the Brit and has leap-frogged Leon Haslam in the standings.

For Gerloff, he was fast in the rain of Magny-Cours in 2020, whilst Chaz Davies took a double win back in 2016 and won again in 2017. Axel Bassani’s form is somewhat unknown in WorldSBK, but back in World Supersport, he took his best ever finish with fourth in 2016.

The rest of the Independent battle is being fought further down, with Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) in 14th place, but going to his home-round full of confidence after two wins in the last three races held at the track in WorldSSP.

Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Team) tackles Magny-Cours for the first time and is three points behind Mahias, whilst Yamaha’s Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) will also go to Magny-Cours for the first time, after what seemed like a bit of a breakthrough at Navarra.

Isaac Viñales (ORELAC Racing VerdNatura) returns to action after a positive COVID-19 test prior to Navarra, with Jonas Folger (Bonovo MGM Racing) next up, just five points back.

Jonas Folger

“Magny-Cours is a great circuit. We competed as wildcard starters in the French Championship there last year. I am happy that we did that, as it means that I am familiar with the circuit now. It is a very challenging circuit, including a real range of corners. There is a pretty long straight, some slow corners. Sometimes it flows and then you have a bit of stop-and-go – it has a bit of everything. I hope that we make a good start to the weekend, work well with the BMW from the word go and that our race results then build on recent races.”

Christophe Ponsson (Gil Motor Sport Yamaha) heads for his home round and will hope to impress, whilst Leandro Mercado (MIE Racing Honda Team) aims for points once more. Loris Cresson (OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing) and team-mate Jayson Uribe also aim for points, particularly Uribe who is yet to score.

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