SBK France 2021: Schedules, favorites and where to watch the races live

Toprak Razgatlioglu is the world leader but is tied on points with Jonathan Rea. If the Turk commands the classification it is because he has won more long races than the champion. The third in contention is Scott Redding, who is in full comeback and is already only 38 points behind the leaders.

Razgatlioglu and Rea, for the victories; Redding, survive

The Magny-Cours circuit is fond of memories for two of the contenders for the title, while not so much for the third. Toprak Razgatlioglu achieved his first Superbike triumph on this French track, while still riding a Kawasaki satellite and in a race through the water. There you began to see what was coming.

Jonathan Rea is also not bad at Magny-Cours, a track in which he has certified some of his titles, starting with that of 2019. The six-time champion has doublets to show off at Magny-Cours, so hopefully the two are in the battle for victories. It can be a precious duel.

More doubts arouse Scott Redding, not only because last year it cost him but because, in general, Magny-Cours does not seem like an ideal circuit for the Ducati Panigale V4 R. We are talking about a fairly fluid and twisty track, with a single long straight that doesn't even come after a slow corner where you can pull the acceleration.

In return, Redding is the rider with the longest run after the two events at Most and Navarra. Knowing himself outside of Ducati seems to have given him an extra motivation to be fighting for every victory. It comes in full comeback and the rest of the circuits will be favorable, but must survive Magny-Cours.

Another important factor in the fight between the two leaders is going to be what the teammates can do, or even the brand, because while Alex Lowes doesn't seem capable of getting a lot of hands on Rea, Andrea Locatelli and even Garrett Gerloff could be allies from Razgatlioglu, because they are constantly on top.

At Honda the drama is total. They come from worst weekend since they put the new Honda CBR1000RR-R on the track, and also Álvaro Bautista has already confirmed that he will leave at the end of the season to resume his path with Ducati. No one can blame you, because Honda is getting more and more late.

And Magny-Cours could bring more trouble, because Nor does it seem like the ideal circuit for the Honda, nor has Bautista ever gone particularly well, and less now, who already knows that he is going. It's restructuring at HRC, and there aren't many exciting drivers on the horizon beyond veteran champion Tom Sykes.

The opposite side is that of BMW, which, without fanfare, is having a fairly worthy debut for its bike, always hovering around the podium positions. Last season they hit the ball in the standings by taking the top two positions, although then they screwed it up at the start. We will see what is the BMW M 1000 RR capable of.

This year no inclement weather is expected in Magny-Cours

Going to the way to follow the races, DAZN continues to be the holder of the broadcasting rights of the World Superbike Championship. But there are other alternatives. Starting with Movistar +, which broadcasts all DAZN content. Eurosport will always broadcast the races live on its online platform, although it will sometimes be delayed on analogue channels.

RTVE also owns part of the rights, but they will only broadcast some live sessions. LaLigaSporstsTV, TV3 and the Superbikes videopass are other options to follow the races online. The schedules will return to be the usual ones for the World Cup and mild weather is expected in Magny-Cours.