Rea begins title defence in style
REIGNING World Superbikes Champion Jonathan Rea began his title defence in fine style with a double win at the 2017 season-opener at Phillip Island in Australia on the weekend.
In race one on Saturday, the Kawasaki rider battled until the last corner with Ducati’s Chaz Davies and sneaked the win by only four hundredths of a second. Rea’s team-mate Tom Skyes crossed the line third, just over a second behind. The first showdown of the season featured five leaders over its 22-lap duration, including Rea, Davies, Sykes, Ducati’s Marco Melandri and Yamaha’s Alex Lowes who eventually finished fourth.
Leon Camier was the quickest MV Augusta rider in fifth, with Jordi Torres the best of the BMWs in seventh. Honda’s new Fireblade struggled on its first outing with former MotoGP World Champ Nicky Hayden finishing just out of the top ten in 11th.
Rea then wrapped up his perfect start and his 40th career victory in Sunday’s race two - an impressive feat after starting from the ninth grid slot. Second again went to Davies with Melandri rounding out the podium placings.
Roberto Rolfo gave MV Augusta a win in Sunday’s World Supersport support race, but only by 0.001 seconds from Yamaha’s Lucas Mahias. The photo finish was the closest result in World Supersport history.
South African Sheridan Morais started 15th and ended 11th overall on his Kallio Racing Yamaha R6. The Johannesburg-based 31-year-old had made his way up to seventh before the race was red-flagged after a big crash on the second lap. The race was then shortened to a ten-lap dash after the restart.
The second WSBK round is scheduled to take place at the Thai Chang circuit from March 10 to 12.