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.
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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.
Race two and on a dry track, Davies was on much better form, running at the front with the two Kawasakis in close attendance.
After dropping to second behind Kawasaki stablemate Rea late on in the first race, Sykes was left disappointed when tyre problems left him not only trailing Rea but also Davies in the second race, leaving him with a tough task to overhaul his rival with only the Qatar finale remaining.
The podium was completed by Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) who kept his consecutive run of podium finishes at his home circuit in tact with a spirited ride.
The pole man Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) started strongly but faded and with 7th laps to go he made the decision to pit for intermediate tires, he eventually finished 16th.
Rea twice finished fourth as he put the title beyond reach at Jerez in Spain in September, bringing an end to a remarkable run of results that saw the Northern Ireland star finish inside the top three at every race this year. His podium tally of 22 equals Troy Bayliss, who achieved the total in 2002.
Davies managed to hold onto second from Sykes with van der Mark in fourth.
Indeed, Manfredi was a notable absentee when the race was restarted as a shortened 11-lapper. With PJ Jacobsen clearing off in the lead, Kenan Sofuoglu did enough in finishing second to secure his fourth WSS title.
Sykes was unable to get the required heat into his wet tyres and slid off without injury at high speed. Manfredi’s Honda team-mate Martin Cardenas, and Kawasaki privateers Christian Gamarino Marco Faccani completed the top 10.
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Tamburini needed to win to have any chance of taking the title – but that was a big ask, starting from the sixth row of the grid. Tamburini eventually finished fifth behind local Yamaha rider Mathieu Gines, while Gaurnoni cruised home eighth, 10 seconds adrift of Fabio Massei (Ducati) and his own Aprilia team-mate Alessandro Andreozzi, the championship firmly in his grasp.
