Kawasaki

Ana Carrasco, First Female World Champion - A New Era Dawns?

Submitted by David Emmett on

History was made at Magny-Cours this weekend. Strictly speaking, history is made every time motorcycles go racing, but Magny-Cours will feature prominently in the history books. Jonathan Rea confirmed his status as arguably the best World Superbike rider of all time, taking his fourth title in succession with a win in Race 1 on Saturday, and matching Carl Fogarty's tally of four WorldSBK titles.

Impressive as Rea's achievement is – and it should not be underestimated, despite those who say that Fogarty faced tougher competition – what Magny-Cours will be remembered for above all is Ana Carrasco becoming the first woman rider to win an FIM-sanctioned world championship. For the first time ever, we have what the Spanish call a "campeona", rather than a "campeon".

It was a fitting end to the 2018 WorldSSP300 championship, and illustrative of just how fierce the series can be. Carrasco came into the final round of WorldSSP300 with a 10 point advantage, and hot favorite to lift the title. But two tough sessions of practice meant she missed out on Q2, and ended up starting from 25th on the grid.

Close, tense, tough

Carrasco fought her way through the field in the race, taking her Kawasaki Ninja 400 to within 2.5 seconds of the eventual winner, Dani Valle. But so close is the WorldSSP300 class that 2.5 seconds meant that she crossed the line in 13th position.

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2018 Magny-Cours WorldSBK Preview - What Can We Expect In Magny-Cours?

Submitted by Steve English on

The final European round of the WorldSBK season sees Magny-Cours play host to Jonathan Rea's first attempt to make history by winning a fourth consecutive championship. The Northern Irishman is on the cusp of history and clinched the title here 12 months ago.

Can Rea clinch it?

It would be surprise if Rea doesn't leave France with the title in the bag. Over the course of the last three rounds he has been undefeated, and even though Magny-Cours has been a happy hunting ground in the past for Chaz Davies the Welshman is up against it due to injury. The stars are aligned for Rea to make history this weekend.

Yamaha out to impress

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2018 Portimao WorldSBK: What We Learned In Portugal

Submitted by Steve English on

Jonathan Rea may have had a third consecutive double at the Portuguese round of WorldSBK but that's not to say there wasn't plenty of action and intrigue as WorldSBK resumed following the summer break.

Rea gets creative

Jonathan Rea came away from Portimao with another 50 points and moved ever closer to a historic fourth consecutive title. The Northern Irishman has enjoyed another stellar campaign and has won 12 races already this year. He'll be out to wrap up the crown in two weeks time in France and knows that following his Portimao double, he has one hand on the crown.

“I can't quite believe what's happening right now,” said Rea afterwards. “We knew after coming to the test that we'd be strong, so we kept the bike the same as at the test. I had really good pace to catch Chaz, but he was braking like an animal and I knew that I'd have to be creative to overtake him. I made the move at Turn 10 and it stuck, after that I tried to control the race. I know that my target is to win the title in Magny-Cours because I know that at this point, it's my championship to lose.”

With 116 points in hand over Davies, the title can be secured following Race 1 in France.

Davies digs deep

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