Jonathan Rea was unable secure a race win at the #FrenchWorldSBK round after taking his first pole of 2016 on Saturday, but he did edge closer to defending his title at Magny-Cours.

Rea missed the podium and was beaten by his KRT colleague and title rival Tom Sykes in Race 1 but the resilient Northern Irishman struck back on Sunday to beat Sykes in a tight battle, behind double-race winning Chaz Davies on the Ducati.

Rea and Sykes went at it over the second 21 lap race of the weekend in dry conditions after Saturday’s wet-drying contest, and whilst Rea ultimately got the better of the Yorkshireman on the Ninja ZX-10R neither of them could keep up with the late pace of Davies who took the win.

However, with Rea extending his championship lead over his teammate to 48 points he leaves the Fassi French Round in an upbeat mood.

Kawasaki Racing Team’s defending World Champion reviewed Sunday’s race saying, “I tried to plan my pass on Tom because he is strong right now and he is hard to pass at the best of times. When I overtook under braking, unfortunately it let Chaz come past us. Then I had to try to pass Tom again but already the gap to Chaz was too much. Maybe I spent too much time behind Tom but he is riding so well. I am happy with my race because second place was the best I could do and I am happy with the way I rode.”

“We need to improve the bike set-up in some areas but all things considered I am happy with the result. It is a 48-point gap now and it is nice to extend the championship lead, even if by one point after Lausitzring last time and by another single point here! Championships can be won by a point so every one of them is important. If we can just have a clean end to the season hopefully we can do the job.”