Newly crowned World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea clocked up his fifth double win of the campaign at the penultimate round of the season at Magny Cours.

The Northern Irishman was made to work hard for victory in Race 1 held in damp conditions at the French circuit, before producing a dominant performance in the final encounter of the weekend.

The world champion’s double triumph saw him chalk up 22 podium finishes for the season, equaling the feat of three-time champion Troy Bayliss in 2002.

Rea’s Kawasaki team-mate Tom Sykes charged into an early lead in Race 1 but a mistake from the Englishman at Turn 8 with just two laps remaining presented Rea an opportunity to grab the lead.

Once ahead, Rea quickly opened up a gap on Sykes which stood at 4.7s at the chequered flag.

Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli delighted his home crowd by securing the final place on the podium aboard the Pata Honda ahead of team-mate Michael van der Mark.

Leon Camier scored MV Agusta’s best result in the World Superbike Championship in fifth with Chaz Davies sixth and Matteo Baiocco coming home in seventh.

A four way dice for the lead dominated the early stages of Race 2 with Rea, Davies, Sykes and Leon Haslam locked in a titanic scrap.

Rea and Davies eventually managed to break away from Haslam and Sykes as the race reached the mid point.

However, Davies was unable to live with Rea’s relentless pace at the front which allowed the Kawasaki man to come through to record his second win of the weekend.

Davies managed to hold onto second from Sykes with van der Mark in fourth.

Haslam slipped back to fifth at the flag ahead of Guintoli.

The World Superbike Championship heads to Qatar’s Losail Circuit for the final round from October 18.