World Superbikes: Alvaro Bautista takes victory as Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu crash

Alvaro Bautista had four seconds to spare at the chequered flag

Alvaro Bautista extended his lead at the top of the World Superbike standings to 56 points by taking victory in the first feature race of the weekend at Magny-Cours in France.

Bautista won by four seconds from Scott Redding, with Axel Bassani third.

Bautista's title rivals Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu crashed out but re-mounted, with the latter finishing 11th and the former one lap down.

Rea sits second in the championship, two points ahead of Razgatlioglu.

The French round sees the resumption of the series after a six-week mid-season break, with six rounds having already been staged and six, including this weekend's races, yet to take place.

Kawasaki rider Rea and defending champion Razgatlioglu had set the identical joint-quickest time in qualifying and both the Northern Irishman and the Turk were involved in a four-way battle at the front, before crashing out in separate incidents on laps two and three respectively.

Both managed to drag their bikes out of the gravel, although Rea's Kawasaki looked more battered than Razgatlioglu's Yamaha.

Ducati-mounted Bautista and BMW rider Redding were left to contend for the lead, with the Italian subsequently pulling clear of his rival to take the chequered flag.

Loris Baz was involved in a tussle for the final podium spot but also crashed and re-mounted while Michael Ruben Rinaldi ran into gravel before re-joining the race.

Rea has now gone 10 races without registering a win, his worst run since 2019 when he went 11 races at the start of the season without victory.

The Superpole place will take place at 10:00 BST on Sunday, followed by the second feature race at 13:00 BST.