Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) remains in command of the combined timesheets for Friday at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours after Free Practice 2, but the Northern Irishman saw his leading gap cut in half by Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) as the Yorkshireman secured the fastest time in the second session.

The 2013 world champion ran a lap of 1’37.403 that moves him to within just two tenths of a second from his teammate, who in turn was unable to improve his best time from FP1. The KRT duo nonetheless still top the timesheets and remain unstoppable with one Friday session remaining.

Every other rider inside the top 9 managed to improve their times in FP2, with Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) moving up to third fastest for the day and three tenths of a second behind Rea. The Italian put in another strong Free Practice performance and will be aiming for the top spot this afternoon.

Cheered on by his home fans, Loris Baz (GULF Althea BMW Racing Team) set the fourth fastest time around Magny-Cours, followed by Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) in fifth, with Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) in sixth.

Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) sits in seventh for the day onboard his YZF-R1, while the Ducati trio of Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team) close the top ten in that same order. The Italian was unable to set a time in FP1 but managed to put in consistent laps in FP2 and will be hoping to move even higher in FP3.

It’s now or never for the WorldSBK grid! Catch FP3 from 16:05 local time (14:05 GMT) thanks to WorldSBK VideoPass.