Now we can think about the title, says five-time World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea

The Northern Ireland rider won Saturday’s opening race in the wet and triumphed again on Sunday in the Superpole race to increase his tally of career victories to a record 99 wins.

Rea needed to finish inside the top three in the final race, but he struggled for grip with his Kawasaki and could only manage fourth.

Key rival Scott Redding won the race for Ducati, forcing Rea to wait until the final round at Estoril in Portugal for a sixth title.

However, with the 33-year-old requiring only three more points to retain his world crown, the champagne is simply on ice.

Rea said: “Whilst I love Magny-Cours, it would be nice to go somewhere else and have a magical feeling again. Now we can really allow ourselves to think about being a champion because it is very close.

“I have to score three points, which is a great position to be in entering the last round with three races.

“It shows the incredible job the Kawasaki Racing Team has done this year and we will keep pushing. I’m looking forward to the challenge of learning Estoril as well because it looks like a really cool layout and one I feel will suit me pretty well,” he added.

“We still need to get it done and I still need 100 per-cent focus and attack every session in the same positive way with my team.”

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