An amazing penultimate race in the 2012 championship season, held in wet conditions, saw early contender Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) fall on lap two and his two remaining championship rivals, Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) score podiums for second and third respectively.

Sylvain Guintoli (PATA Racing Team Ducati) continued his amazing form in privateer guise with a clear win, by over six seconds from Melandri and by over 16 seconds from Sykes. This was Guintoli's third win of the year.

The results tees up a fabulous season finale, with Biaggi now only 14.5 points ahead of Sykes, and 18.5 ahead of Melandri, with 25 points still on offer for a win in the last race of the year.

Magny-Cours - FIM Superbike World Championship - Race 1

1. Sylvain Guintoli (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 44'06.2992. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 44'12.4263. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 44'22.8944. Maxime Berger (Red Devils Roma) Ducati 1098R 44'28.1565. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 44'31.4486. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 44'39.0777. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 44'40.6108. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 44'53.5689. Claudio Corti (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 44'56.01910. Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 44'56.49111. Norino Brignola (Grillini Progea Superbike Team) BMW S1000 RR 44'07.82912. Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 44'30.35713. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 45'54.249RT. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 17'30.576RT. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 13'28.550RT. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 24'38.833RT. Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 9'56.432RT. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 3'53.814RT. Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2'00.448