WSBK: Australia and Thailand
Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki Racing Team could not have been happier after the Northern Irish rider dominated the top spot in the opening two rounds
Australia Race One
After a killer Super Pole victory, Rea started the first event of the season on pole, followed by his team-mate, Tom Sykes, and Aruba.it Ducati’s new rider and veteran racer, Marco Melandri.
As the lights went out, it was Melandri who rocketed past everyone and took an early lead. However, Rea, Sykes and Davies were right on the Italian’s tail on lap one. Come lap two and the Kawasaki duo overtook the Italian, forcing him to P3 with Davies coming in hot in P4.
Rea led the race for four laps before Melandri made his move again and regained the lead. The battle for P1 was so close during the first half of the race that there were about five riders fighting for the lead at one point. But as tyre wear came into the picture, the gap between the front runners and the rest kept on increasing. At the front, the Kawasaki duo were still fighting for the lead and were being challenged by the Ducati boys and also Alex Lowes of Yamaha. Marco Melandri, who was gunning for the win, led till lap 15; however, unfortunately, he had a crash and was forced out of the race.
The battle intensified on the following laps where Davies and Rea were neck and neck right till the line. In the end, Rea took the chequered flag with just 0.042 seconds between him and Davies. Sykes, too, was not too far behind in third with just a second separating him from Rea.
Race Two
The second race at Phillip Island saw Alex Lowes run away with the lead in the opening lap since he started on pole because of the reverse grid order. However, the initial laps saw riders like Barni Racing team’s Xavi Forés, Eugene Laverty of Milwaukee Aprilia and others fight for the lead. While these riders were busy fighting for P1, KRT’s Jonathan Rea and Ducati’s Chaz Davies crept up the order and, by lap six, Rea had taken the lead and was now being chased down by Forés and Davies.
After leading for just two laps, Davies passed Rea on lap eight to lead the race. Meanwhile, Rea was busy keeping Forés, Lowes and Melandri at bay. But after five laps in P2, Rea was once again overtaken by Melandri, who took the lead two laps later when he passed his team-mate, Davies. The battle at the front was heating up with Melandri leading and Davies and Rea fighting hard to chase him down. After an intense fight, which lasted for five laps, Rea finally slipped into the lead with just two laps to go. Nevertheless, Davies was hot on the Irish rider’s heels and, on lap 21, the Welsh rider slipped into the lead. The battle continued and went right till the finish line where Rea was the ultimate winner as he crossed the line just 0.025 seconds before Davies. Melandri, who was also involved in the battle for the win, eventually finished third, thus giving Ducati a solid twothree finish in the second race.
Thailand Race One
It was a clean sweep for Jonathan during the third race of the season at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand. The Northern Irish rider started on pole and was soon lapping the circuit at a blistering pace and in the lead. Rea also went on to create a new lap record at Chang, where he has won oYH RI WKH VL[ UDFHV VLQFH WKH EHJLQQLQJ of the Thai round.
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Race Two
The second race was a pretty straightforward race with Jonathan Rea taking an early lead after the race restarted. As the lights went out, Rea slipped into the lead with Melandri and Sykes right behind him. As the race progressed, Rea started to pull away and the battle was now between Melandri DQG 6\NHV )RU ODSV 0HODQGUL KHOG RQ WR 3 ZLWK 6\NHV WU\LQJ KLV EHVW RQ HYHU\ ODS WR RYHUWDNH WKH ,WDOLDQ 6\NHV IRUWXQH FKDQJHG RQ WKH YHU\ ODVW ODS ZKHQ WKH %ULW PDGH KLV oQDO PRYH RYHUWDNLQJ Melandri and bagging P2. Melandri was MXVW VHFRQGV EHKLQG 6\NHV
Jonathan Rea was the happiest on the grid, with four wins in two rounds and also the championship ead. Aruba.it 'XFDWL ULGHU &KD] 'DYLHV ZKR LV VWLOO running second in the championship, now has more reasons to worry as the second Kawasaki Racing Team rider, Tom Sykes, is just eight points behind him in third.