Wet weather washed out the late laps of the first race of the Magny-Cours World Superbike weekend on October 5, but nothing dampened the spirits of the Aprilia Racing Team as riders Sylvain Guintoli and Marco Melandri each scored a win and a second-place finish.
Conditions at the start of Race 1 were such that several riders crashed on the warm-up lap, prompting officials to shorten the race to 19 laps. Early leader Jonathan Rea had a brief time ahead of the blinding spray before Guintoli passed him early in the race. Aprilia teammate Melandri charged through the pack and was reeling in Guintoli, but Guintoli scored his third win of the season by edging out Melandri at the finish.
The weather didn’t improve for Race 2. Rea and Davide Giugliano, both riding for the Pata Honda World Superbike Team, took an early lead––and both crashed then rode back to the pits and called it a day. Their retirement left Guintoli and Melandri to duke it out, with Melandri taking the checkered flag ahead of Guintoli.
Kawasaki-mounted Tom Sykes, overall points leader going into the race, placed fourth in both races and maintained his lead. But Guintoli’s 1-2 whittled that lead to just 12 points, while Melandri’s 2-1 put him in third spot in the overall standings. With one round left in the 2014 season at Losail, Qatar, the World Superbike title is still up for grabs.
- Guintoli (Aprilia) 19 Laps/83.809 km in 36'45.206 average 136.818 kph
- Melandri (Aprilia) 2.257
- Rea (Honda) 5.954
- Sykes (Kawasaki) 15.670
- Baz (Kawasaki) 16.149
- Haslam (Honda) 29.411
- Giugliano (Ducati) 57.319
- Lanzi (Ducati) 59.306
- Neukirchner (Ducati) 1'12.274
- Barrier (BMW) 1'22.931
- Canepa (Ducati) 1'39.670
- Guarnoni (Kawasaki) 1'42.886
- Corti (MV Agusta) 2'03.253
- Staring (Kawasaki) 1 Lap
- Foret (Kawasaki) 1 Lap
- Salchaud (MV Agusta) 1 Lap
- Morais (Kawasaki) 2 Laps
- May (EBR) 2 Laps
- Laverty (Suzuki) 2 Laps
- Toth (BMW) 3 Laps; RT. Rizmayer (BMW); RT. Yates (EBR); RT. Fores (Ducati); RT. Andreozzi (Kawasaki); RT. Elias (Aprilia); RT. Lowes (Suzuki); RT. Davies (Ducati)
- Melandri (Aprilia) 19 Laps/83.809 km in 36'25.402 average 138.058 kph
- Guintoli (Aprilia) 2.669
- Haslam (Honda) 16.450
- Sykes (Kawasaki) 20.759
- Lanzi (Ducati) 46.689
- Neukirchner (Ducati) 58.490
- Baz (Kawasaki) 1'03.100
- Corti (MV Agusta) 1'24.699
- Davies (Ducati) 1'27.899
- Canepa (Ducati) 1'51.706
- Foret (Kawasaki) 1 Lap
- Rizmayer (BMW) 2 Laps
- Toth (BMW) 2 Laps; RT. Staring (Kawasaki); RT. Laverty (Suzuki); RT. Fores (Ducati); RT. Guarnoni (Kawasaki); RT. Rea (Honda); RT. Barrier (BMW); RT. Morais (Kawasaki); RT. Giugliano (Ducati); RT. May (EBR); RT. Lowes (Suzuki); RT. Yates (EBR); RT. Elias (Aprilia); RT. Salchaud (MV Agusta); NS. Andreozzi (Kawasaki)