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The last European round of the year had it all: changeable weather, mixed fortunes and unpredictable results. At the ‘Circuit de Nevers/Magny-Cours’ in Central France Tom Sykes had another match point to retain the title but like a fortnight before at Jerez, the Aprilia duo of Marco Melandri and Sylvain Guintoli stood once again on the defending champion’s way.

The Briton gained an early advantage on Saturday by claiming his fifth Tissot-Superpole of the year on dry conditions. Sunday’s weather was not as clement and Sykes had hard time keeping Melandri and Guintoli’s pace on the drenched French tarmac. The KRT rider eventually finished the first race fourth as his teammate Baz gave way at the last chicane before the chequered flag.

Sykes only manage to contain the damage as Melandri did the same earlier to Guintoli, allowing the Frenchman to take the lead in the final stages and to win race 1 in front of his home crowd. An almost identical scenario awaited Guintoli a couple of hours later but unlike the first encounter, Melandri did not slow down – despite the team orders – and crossed the line as the winner of race 2 ahead of his teammate.

Sykes again missed the podium as he was edged out by compatriot Leon Haslam, finding himself with a much narrower lead – 12 points – ahead of the season finale in Qatar. Sylvain Barrier and Niccolò Canepa were the best classified EVO riders in race 1 and race 2, respectively.

Local rider Jules Cluzel came out on top in the World Supersport race, while a FIM Superstock 1000 Cup thrilling finale saw Leandro Mercado grabbing the title as Lorenzo Savadori threw away his chances by crashing out on the last lap of the race.

The day before the young Turk Toprak Razgatiouglu won his debut STK600 race in spectacular fashion.