IN
THE
WIND
P44
so he had been closing in on
Locatelli as much as anybody on
an older and less powerful official
bike could do, in what is almost
completely Yamaha-dominated
WorldSSP territory.
But without the rider who had
dismissed Mahias so adeptly in
the first race to win on Saturday,
the Sunday race was an open
door that Mahias pushed through
for all 18 laps.
It was his first win of 2020, the
first non-Yamaha win of the year,
and wearing special leathers and
helmet designs on Sunday in front
of a restrictedly small but passion-
ate local crowd, he was as happy
as it was possible to be.
Two fully wet races made life
a tricky challenge for most in
WorldSSP in France, even in the
quite grippy new asphalt.
Joining Locatelli and Mahias on
the podium in race one, Hannes
Soomer (Kallio Racing Yamaha)
was a first-time top-three rider,
after long-time podium runner
Kyle Smith (GMT94 Yamaha) fell—
twice—and was eventually ruled
out of race one. He would podium
behind Mahias for second in race
two to make up for it.
Soomer liked third place in
race one so much he did it again
in race two, but only after some
more high-profile fallers, most
notably podium-bound rookie
and countryman of all-time great
WorldSSP rider Kenan Sofuoglu,
Can Oncu (Turkish Racing Team
Kawasaki). His wet pace took
him to potential stardom from
mid-pack, but his fall saw him
drop back to the fringes of the
top 10. He recovered for seventh.
In the points Locatelli is on 288,
Mahias 204, the injured Jules Clu-
zel an unchanged 146 and Philipp
Ottl—Mahias' teammate—131.
Gordon Ritchie
SUPERBIKE
Race One
1. Jonathan Rea (Kaw)
2. Loris Baz (Yam)
3. Alex Lowes (Kaw)
4. Chaz Davies (Duc)
5. Scott Redding (Duc)
Superpole
1. Jonathan Rea (Kaw)
2. Alex Lowes (Kaw)
3. Michael van der Mark (Yam)
4. Scott Redding (Duc)
5. Chaz Davies (Duc)
Race Two
1. Scott Redding (Duc)
2. Loris Baz (Yam)
3. Chaz Davies (Duc)
4. Jonathan Rea (Kaw)
5. Michael van der Mark (Yam)
Lucas Mahias (44)
took a second home
win at Magny Cours
in race two. Locatelli
(55) took the honors
in race one.
