The 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is back underway after the mid-season break came to a close and the return to racing action reignited the various battles on track. After a crazy week of rider market news, the on-track headlines continued to be dominated by Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), who took top spot in FP1 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. The session was ended early following a big crash for Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) at Turn 7, although the Italian was able to walk away.

The most successful rider at Magny-Cours with nine wins, Jonathan Rea was relentless from the green light after writing the headlines off-track coming into the round. With a move to Yamaha coming for 2024, Rea started his final four rounds with Kawasaki in a strong way, leading the way for most of the session. Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) undertook a time attack at the end of the session and was a revelation in P2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) took third and made it three different manufacturers inside the top three, one place ahead of teammate Andrea Locatelli, with Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in P5 at a track he always goes well at.

In sixth place and after a Thursday where he wasn’t well, Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was over half a second adrift of Rea at the top, with the Championship leader just one place ahead of teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who will be looking for a ride for 2024. Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was eighth at the track where he led a race for the first time for BMW 12 months ago, one place ahead of Axel Bassani. He had a massive crash at Turn 7 when he lost control on the direction change, with the Ducati and Bassani flying through the air. ‘El Bocia’ was able to walk away whilst his bike took a battering, but a red flag was shown which signified the end of the session. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) took P10 after a chain issue at the start of the session. An electronics issue for Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) kept the home hero – who sports a resplendent special helmet in tribute to the late F1 driver Francois Cevert – in the pits, although he got out with 15 minutes to go.

Top six after WorldSBK FP1 at Magny-Cours, full results here:

1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 1’36.900s

2. Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) +0.157s

3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +0.160s

4. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +0.242s

5. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.431s

6. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.567s

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