Jonathan Rea eighth fastest on day one at Magny-Cours World Superbike round after technical issue slows progress
Jonathan Rea was hampered by a technical issue with his Pata Prometeon Yamaha in the opening free practice session at Magny-Cours in France on Friday as he finished eighth fastest at round eight of the World Superbike Championship.
The Ballyclare man was over seven tenths of a second off the best time recorded by factory BMW rider Michael van der Mark in 1m 36.010s, whose team-mate Toprak Razgatlioglu was involved in a heavy spill in the afternoon session and will take no further part this weekend.
Razgatlioglu, who led the times in FP1, was on course to post the quickest lap when he came off at high speed.
The Turkish rider collided with a safety bale and was briefly winded as he gathered himself on the asphalt.
He was taken to the medical centre at the circuit, where the 27-year-old was ‘diagnosed with a back contusion’.
Razgatlioglu went to hospital for more checks and was later declared unfit to race.
The championship leader was on a run of 13 consecutive victories – a new record – as he targets a second World Superbike title.
His time from the morning session had left him third overall in free practice behind Aruba.it Ducati rider Nicolo Bulega.
Six-time champion Rea has outlined his target of finishing the season on a high with five rounds remaining after a difficult first campaign as a Yamaha rider.
The 37-year-old has only finished on the podium once this season, taking third in the Superpole race at Donington Park in July.
Qualifying has been a big problem for Rea this year, with the 119-time race winner regularly struggling to make it onto the first three rows.
And while Rea’s race pace has often been good enough for the top five or higher, he has been unable to recover the ground he has lost at the beginning of races.
“I want to focus on is my one-lap time attack pace, because qualifying has proven very important in WorldSBK this season,” Rea said.
“Superpole now is so critical. There’s not much drop off with the Pirelli tyres now, so your starting position means everything.
“If you start at the back, you lose so many seconds in the start of the race – trying to avoid other riders, trying to guess what’s going to happen in front of you – and all of a sudden, in just a few laps, the gap to the front is too big.”
Rea is languishing in tenth position in the championship, a massive 279 points behind old rival Razgatlioglu.
He is also behind his factory Yamaha team-mate, Andrea Locatelli – who is fifth – and Aussie Remy Gardner in eighth, who rides for the GRT Yamaha squad.
With the season entering a hectic period of five rounds in seven weeks, Rea will be eager to see out the campaign strongly and lay the foundations for an improved challenge in 2025.
Spain’s Alvaro Bautista, the defending champion, was seventh fastest after slipping off his Ducati in FP2.
Bautista is third in the championship, 50 points behind team-mate Bulega, who has made a big impression in his first season in World Superbikes following his title success in the Supersport class.
Qualifying on Saturday is scheduled for 10:00 BST followed by the opening Superbike race of the weekend at 13:00 BST.
On Sunday, the Superpole race is at 10:00 BST with Race 2 at 14:30 BST.