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Tissot-Superpole 2 – Jonathan Rea (Race 1: 4th)

Saturday saw Jonathan Rea earn his 7th career pole, the first since Buriram last year. Magny-Cours is the first circuit where Rea starts from pole for a second time, having also recorded the best time here in 2011. This was the Northern Irishman’s 40th front row start.

Rea’s pole position is the 9th straight pole for the United Kingdom and equals the longest streak in history, previously recorded by Australia; from Brands Hatch in 2006 to Valencia in 2007. The pole-men achieving that record were Troy Bayliss (6 times) and Troy Corser (3 times).

In the last 17 qualifying weekends, only one pole has been recorded by a non-British rider: Michael van der Mark in Thailand this year (2016).

Rea has maintained a perfect record of out-qualifying his teammates every time at the Circuit de Nevers Magny Cours (6-0).

His fourth place in Race 1 is the only time this year where Jonathan Rea has finished off of the podium: before that, he had recorded 9 wins, 6 second places, 3 thirds and 2 DNFs. In the 47 races he contested since he joined Kawasaki last year, Rea has only missed the podium in 6 of them.

Curiously, Rea has always recorded his worst results from pole at Magny-Cours: 2 DNFs in 2011 and P4 this year. His other pole starts resulted in 7 wins, one second place and two thirds.

2nd – Tom Sykes (Race 1: 3rd)

This is Tom Sykes’ 56th career front row start: his tenth of the season, making 2016 his third best. He recorded 13 front row starts in 2012 and 11 the following year. Only three riders in history have three or more seasons with double-digit front row starts: Troy Bayliss (10 in 2006, 11 in 2002 and 2007 and 13 in 2008), Troy Corser (10 in 1996, 11 in 1995 and 1998 and 12 in 1995), and now Sykes.

In Race 1 Sykes recorded his 80th podium, closing in on Rea who has 83 (6th all-time spot). Sykes has maintained his record of finishing in the top-4 here since 2012 (9 races in a row) and scored his 7th Magny-Cours podium - the same as Sylvain Guintoli. Only Noriyuki Haga has had more podium finishes at Magny-Cours in the past, climbing on a total of 10 times.

This was Sykes’ 16th podium of the season - the same he recorded in 2014. During his Championship-winning year in 2013 however, he climbed onto the podium 18 times.

As a result of Sykes’ success, Kawasaki have appeared on the podium 25 times, equalling the best sequence by a Japanese manufacturer previously recorded by Honda from Valencia/2, 2002 to Imola/2, 2002. The absolute record belongs to Ducati, with 67 straight races on the podium from Sugo/2, 2002 to Losail/2, 2005.

3rd – Chaz Davies (Race 1: Winner)

Magny-Cours was the 4th front row start for Chaz Davies this year - the same as last year: these are his two best seasons for front row appearances.

And the last two are also Davies’ best seasons for wins, with 6 this year and 5 last year: in Race 1 Davies recorded the 190th British win in WorldSBK history.

Other notes

• Fourth on the grid was the second-best result for Sylvain Guintoli at his home track after the second places in 2010 and 2013: he has always qualified in the top-5 at Magny-Cours;

• Leon Camier for the first time in history took MV Agusta in the top-5 grid spots (fifth) and in the lead of a WorldSBK race. Camier recorded his best grid spot since Donington 2013;

• In Race 1 Lorenzo Savadori (8th on the grid) led a WorldSBK race for the first time.

• Michael van der Mark in Race 1 finished second, recording his sixth podium of the season.