Rea up four tilt on title
® JONATHAN REA made it a fabulous four straight victories.
The Northern Ireland rider dominated in the humid heat of Buriram with his second double of the season.
“This is my best-ever start to the season, I’m feeling good with the bike,” said Rea, who has a 30-point lead on nearest rival Chaz Davies as he chases a third successive World Superbike crown.
Davies, having seen off the threat of Ducati team-mate Marco Melandri, was six seconds behind the Kawasaki ace in Saturday’s opener.
“As soon as my lead broke the one second mark, I knew that slipstreaming was not going to come into play for the riders behind, so I just set my own rhythm,” Rea added.
Spice
The reward for his victory, under the new rules designed to spice things up, meant Rea had to start yesterday’s race in Thailand from the third row of the grid.
“I was so nervous about the ninth place start, to be honest, because this track is so hard to pass, especially with the speed of the Ducatis,” said Rea.
He still led by the end of the first lap, although Melandri and Davies posed early problems before the latter ran wide into a corner and slid off.
Davies rejoined and was thrown a lifeline when the race was red-flagged as oil spilled from Lorenzo Salvadori’s high-siding Milwaukee Aprilia.
Rea had pole for the restart and he was quickly in control, taking the race by just over four seconds.
He became the first Brit since Neil Hodgson in 2003 to win the opening four races of a season.