Jonathan Rea celebrates after winning the fourth title on Saturday. A WorldSBK image
Jonathan Rea celebrates after winning the fourth title on Saturday. A WorldSBK image
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) took the 2018 WorldSBK crown in style at the Acerbis French Round, slicing past teammate Tom Sykes in the early stages of Race One and imperious from there on in to take victory number 13 of the year. Unlucky for some, but far from it for the now four-time Champion. Sykes took second from his record-breaking pole, with Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team) completing the podium after a three-way fight for third.
It was Sykes who got the holeshot from pole, getting a lightning start and leaving teammate Rea to trail him in second – albeit in very close company. Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) kept his P3 from the front row as they shot off the line, with Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team) slotting into fourth as the field made their way around Lap 1. But Rea remained threatening in second and feinted a number of moves, before the reigning Champion pounced for the lead not long after.
Just off that fight at the front, Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) took an early tumble, followed not long after by a DNF for Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team) in that same mid top ten group. Rea was then pulling away from Sykes and Sykes from those on the chase as Fores hustled past Savadori and took over in third, but the Italian stayed close and Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was beginning to hone in on that battle.
Rea crossed the line for win number 13 and his fourth crown in style, with Sykes just behind his teammate in another impressive 1-2 for Kawasaki. Fores was able to fight off Savadori, and both just stayed ahead of Davies by the flag. Davies needed to finish second to stop Rea taking the crown, but after a mid top ten qualifying and still recovering from a broken collarbone, it was a tall order. The Welshman nevertheless put together an impressive ride in difficult circumstances – much like his races in Portugal. His teammate Marco Melandri , after a tough qualifying, moved through from p12 on the grid to take sixth.
Seventh went to Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) as he moved up from tenth on the grid, getting past Toprak Razgatliouglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) at mid-distance and steadily pulling away from the Turk, who came home in P8. Loris Baz (GULF Althea BMW) had been fighting him in the latter stages but couldn’t make it stick, and just at the end was pipped to ninth by Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia).
Leon Camier (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) took P11, ahead of Jordi Torres in P12 for MV Agusta Reparto Corse.
Four titles in a row, 13 race wins this season and two rounds still to go make for another amazing season for Jonathan Rea. See him race as the 2018 champion for the first time on Sunday in Race Two from Magny-Cours.
P1 – Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
“It’s absolutely incredible, I don’t have many words, we just played our cards perfectly this weekend with one lap pace and trying to be fast over the race but feel so blessed and lucky right now. I was just a young kid with a dream from Northern Ireland and now I’m four times world champion and its beyond my wildest dreams. Thanks to everyone for believing in me over the years, I couldn’t have done it without you all. Thank you.”P2 – Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSK)
“Not a bad but slightly disappointed, for whatever reason we struggled a little bit in the race, we struggled at the beginning and when I wanted to attack we missed it. I spoke with the boys and I think we know what it is, but I enjoyed the race and like I said, when I tried to push I lost the front a couple of times and couldn’t do what I wanted. I am happy with the race and for tomorrow I am very excited and motivated, starting from the third row tomorrow is all about aggression. But today is all about Jonathan Rea!”P3 – Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team)
“It was a very hard race because the pace was so fast during all the race. At the beginning I was able to stay with Tom, but I felt a small drop on the front tyre and I decide to make my rhythm to the last part of the race. In the final laps I tried to defend my position and it was so good for me to be back on the podium after some hard races, and its good for me to have a good feeling for the rest of the season, and I am looking forward to tomorrow.”
