After a cool 100km ride from my friend’s medieval domain (Honest!), I joined the huge crowd coming to see the last event of the 2010 World Superbike Championship season, with two Superbike, and single Supersport, Superstock 1000 and Superstock 600 races on the day’s program.

The Superstock 1000 race was won by Maxime Berger (Honda), his first this season, ahead of second place man Ayrton Badovini (BMW). Badovini had won all nine previous races this season and had already clinched the 2010 rider and manufacturer (BMW) championships before the start of the race.

The first 23-lap Superbike race saw MotoGP-bound Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha), where he will replace Valentino Rossi at Yamaha, grab the lead from Max Biaggi (Aprilia) on lap 2. The young Brit then proceeded to pull away from a group of five riders, led by Max Biaggi and fighting each other. This allowed Crutchlow to build a lead, one or two tenths of a second on every lap, right to the finish.

Crutchlow crossed the line 4 sec ahead of Leon Haslam (Suzuki), who pipped Carlos Checa (Ducati) and Max Biaggi on the last corner, with Smrz (Aprilia) in fifth.

The second Superbike race saw Biaggi win by the smallest of margins, holding off Crutchlow by only 0.087 seconds after 23 laps of up-close fighting. Those two ended up almost four seconds ahead of two other scratchers, Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) and Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki). Nori Haga came fifth on his last race aboard a factory Ducati, a full 15 sec. behind the winner.

The day ended with a three-hour ride back to Paris, in heavy Sunday traffic. This chore was simplified by the possibility of lane splitting – You just gotta pay attention!

Magny-Cours WSBK 2010 – Superbike Race 1 Results
Position Rider Bike Race Time
1 C. CRUTCHLOW Yamaha 23 laps
2 L. HASLAM Suzuki +3.779sec
3 C. CHECA Ducati +4.261
4 M. BIAGGI Aprilia +4.416
5 J. SMRZ CZE Aprilia +7.476
6 M. FABRIZIO Ducati +11.866

Magny-Cours WSBK 2010 – Superbike Race 2 Results
Position Rider Bike Race Time
1 M. BIAGGI Aprilia 23 Laps
2 C. CRUTCHLOW Yamaha +0.087sec
3 M. FABRIZIO Ducati +3.715
4 S. GUINTOLI Suzuki +4.004
5 N. HAGA Ducati +15.471
6 J. SMRZ Aprilia +18.378
…

WSBK 2010 Final Rider Standings
Position Rider Manufacturer Points
1- Max Biaggi Aprilia 451
2- Leon Haslam Suzuki 376
3- Carlos Checa Ducati 297
4- Jonathan Rea Honda 292
5- Cal Crutchlow Yamaha 284
6- Noriyuki Haga Ducati 258
7- Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki 197
8- Michel Fabrizio Ducati 195
9- James Toseland Yamaha 187
10- Shane Byrne Ducati 169
11- Troy Corser BMW 165
…

WSBK 2010 Final Manufacturer Standings
Position Manufacturer Points
1- Aprilia 471
2- Ducati 424
3- Suzuki 412
4- Yamaha 352
5- Honda 313
6- BMW 201
7- Kawasaki 113