2014 Magny-Cours World Supersport Race: Attrition And Air Fences

Jules Cluzel wore comedy windscreen wiper glasses on the grid, reminding us that this would be a race on a wet track. Like the World Superbike race, this too was reduced, to seventeen laps.

Kenan Sofuoglu took the lead in a heavily contested first lap, with five riders involved in one crash in the middle of the pack, leading Jules Cluzel, Lucas Mahias and Michael van der Mark until Mahias crashed out, losing control in the wet and watching his bike plough into an air fence. 

Sofuoglu was significantly faster than anyone else, making three seconds a lap on most of the field, in spite of suffering from a misting visor. Every lap, he opened his visor to circulate the air and, even with this distraction, he was still building an insurmountable lead until, ten seconds ahead of Jules Cluzel who was himself over twenty seconds clear of Lorenzo Zanetti and Florian Marino, he modified his front brake setting and then instantly crashed, applying too much pressure on the front brake. As he tried to pick up his bike, Cluzel stormed past, and Sofuoglu could still have made it back in second place, but his bike was damaged beyond a restart.

Michael van der Mark crashed on the seventh lap, but he was able to pick his bike up and get restarted, dropping from third to seventh. After the Sofuoglu crash, he pushed through slower riders and forced his way through to second place in one lap, still over twenty seconds behind Jules Cluzel. With thirteen laps completed, the air fence that was damaged earlier was pronounced dead and the red flags came out. Enough laps were completed for a full result to be declared and Jules Cluzel won the race with a clear lead.

Michael van der Mark continued his run of first or second places and Roberto Rolfo showed his experience from a seventeenth place start to a third place podium.

Jules Cluzel now has twelve points more than Florian Marino, retaking second place in the championship.

Results: