WSB 2014: Magny-Cours race 1 results
Wet weather and team orders come into play
IN VERY wet weather conditions, race one was reduced to 19 laps with Aprilia team orders forcing Marco Melandri to take second whilst Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli took the win in his home country.
During warm-up several riders fell, but it was Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea who took the lead from the start despite treacherous conditions. Rea had a clearer view than those behind him as spray, mainly from the rear wheel, drastically lowered the visibility of riders mid-field.
Guintoli settled in second for a short period of time after passing Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes at the end of lap one, but it wasn’t long until the Frenchman had overtaken Rea and started to pull out a marginal advantage.
Guintoli remained at the front with his team-mate Melandri giving chase. The Kawasaki team-mate Sykes and Loris Baz were now at play, with Baz taking the advantage.
Sykes and Rea began to drop away from the pack and with five laps remaining Melandri has closed the gap to Guintoli eventually passing him. However, Melandri’s pit-board was altered by his crew to show an angry face telling him to drop a position.
Obeying team orders, Melandri dropped a place to let his team-mate Guintoli through to take the win. Isle of Man resident Rea finished in third followed by Sykes, Baz and Pata Honda’s Leon Haslam.
Sylvain Barrier finished top in the EVO category in tenth for BMW Motorrad Italia whilst rival David Salom did not ride.
Several riders including Ducati’s Chaz Davies and Giugliano crashed out although the latter rejoined along with Eugene Laverty. Laverty’s Voltcom Crescent Suzuki team-mate and fellow Brit Alex Lowes also crashed out amongst other riders.
Race one results:
1. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia Racing
2. Marco Melandri ITA Aprilia Racing +2.257
3. Jonathan Rea GBR PATA Honda World Superbike+5.954
4. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing +15.670
5. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing +16.149
6. Leon Haslam GBR PATA Honda World Superbike +29.411
7. Davide Giugliano ITA Ducati Superbike Team +57.319
8. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA 3C Ducati +59.306
9. Max Neukirchner GER 3C Ducati +1:12.774
10. Sylvain Barrier* FRA BMW Italia +1:22.931
11. Niccolo Canepa* ITA Althea Ducati +1:39.670
12. Jeremy Guarnoni* FRA MRS Kawasaki +1:42.886
13. Claudio Corti ITA MV Agusta +2:03.253
14. Bryan Staring* AUS IRON BRAIN Kawasaki +1 lap
15. Fabien Foret* FRA Pedercini Kawasaki +1 lap
16. Nicolas Salchaud FRA Dream Team MV Agusta +1 lap
17. Sheridan Morais* RSA IRON BRAIN Kawasaki +2 laps
18. Geoff May USA Team Hero EBR +2 laps
19. Eugene Laverty IRL Voltcom Crescent Suzuki +2 laps
20. Imre Toth* HUN Team Toth BMW +3 laps
DNF. Gabor Rizmayer HUN Team Toth BMW
DNF. Aaron Yates USA Team Hero EBR
DNF. Xavi Fores ESP 3C Ducati
DNF. Alessandro Andreozzi ITA Pedercini Kawasaki
DNF. Toni Elias ESP Red Devils Roma Aprilia
DNF. Alex Lowes GBR Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
DNF. Chaz Davies GBR Ducati Superbike Team
