Rea takes another WorldSBK double

Kawasaki's Jonathan Rea claims his 2017 WorldSBK season start is his “best ever” after winning both races at the second round of the championship in Thailand on March 11-12.

FULL RESULTS HERE

In typical stifling heat and humidity at the Chang International Circuit, Rea defeated arch-rival Chaz Davies (Ducati) and teammate Tom Sykes in race one, and then Sykes and Marco Melandri (Ducati) in race two. The Northern Irishman has now won 42 WorldSBK races.

As the championship now prepares for a return to Europe, Rea sits on a perfect 100pts from Davies (70), Sykes (62), Alex Lowes (Yamaha, 49) and Melandri (45). Click here for a recap of the season-opening Phillip Island round.

In Sunday’s restarted race two Rea took a brilliant win by just over four seconds from Sykes, who made it a Kawasaki one-two after a last lap move on Melandri.

In the original Sunday race, a technical fault caused Italian Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) to crash at turn 12, with the race red-flagged so oil and debris could be removed from the track.

Rea had already made his mark in the shortened race. He’d started from ninth on the grid, due to the new reverse grid race two rules, but the 30-year-old shot through the field to soon contest the lead with Melandri and was in front by the fourth lap.

The restarted 16-lap race saw Rea take control from the lights, the grid based on the positions at the end of the fourth lap of the earlier curtailed race. Locked in a battle with Melandri in the early laps he was able to pull away, securing over a four-second advantage as he crossed the line.

“This is my best ever start to the season, and I'm feeling good with the bike," said Rea. "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.

“Melandri is so hard to pass, but I’m really lucky this weekend that I had sector three pretty dialled and as soon as I got into something there, and by T4 I put my head down and managed to snap Marco after three or four laps.

"A massive thanks to all my team and all my mechanics; it’s been a hot weekend and they’ve been working relentlessly so these race wins are for them.”

Meanwhile, the Thai Round was a successful one for Lowes who finished Sunday’s race six seconds off the podium in fourth, having finished sixth in race one. Spaniard Jordi Torres (BMW) followed the Englishman across the line for fifth.

A solid performance by Davies after the restart saw him fight through the pack from 19th to eventually finish sixth – having gone down on lap three at the third corner in the initial race, losing the front end and rejoining at the back of the field.

Nicky Hayden (Honda), Xavi Fores (Ducati), Roman Ramos (Kawasaki) and Markus Reiterberger (BMW) completed the top 10.

Michael van der Mark (Yamaha) was unable to take part in the restarted race due to technical issues.

Stefan Bradl (Honda) crashed out at turn 12 after five laps of the restarted contest and did not finish, whilst Randy Krummenacher (Kawasaki) had to retire midway through the 16-lap second race of the afternoon due to a mechanical issue.

Eugene Laverty (Aprilia) crashed out of fifth under pressure from Torres at turn six with eight laps to go, whilst Leon Camier (MV Agusta) was advised by the marshals to stop six laps from the end of the race with smoke pouring from his machine.

The WorldSBK riders return to action from March 31-April 2 at Spain’s Aragón circuit, the third round of the 2017 season.

World supersport
In a dramatic and incident-packed world supersport race in Thailand, it was Federico Caricasulo (Yamaha) who took a superb win, with Thai wild card Decha Kraisart (Yamaha) and Niki Tuuli (Yamaha) also on the podium.

Late drama saw Kyle Smith (Honda) in the hunt for the victory but he was disqualified on the last lap for failing to react to a ride through, after an earlier penalty in which he was requested to concede three positions due to unsporting behaviour. Caricasulo took advantage for a great win by 0.793secs from the impressive Kraisart, with 2016 sensation Tuuli three seconds behind the race winner in third.

Caricasulo had taken over the lead with seven laps to go, with the leader up until that point Jules Cluzel (Honda) retiring from the race seconds later due to a technical fault having led from pole from the start.

Thai rider Thitipong Warokorn (Kawasaki) produced a superb result in fourth place, riding as a substitute for injured world champion Kenan Sofuoglu who is expected to return to action at round three in Spain. Meanwhile, fellow Kawasaki Puccetti Racing man Kyle Ryde was fifth in a hectic Thai race.

Also in the top 10 were Hikari Okubo (Honda), Sheridan Morais (Yamaha), Aussie Aiden Wagner (Honda), Kazuki Watanabe (Kawasaki) and Robin Mulhauser (Honda). Australia's second rider, Lachlan Epis (Kawasaki), finished in 12th position.

In close succession early in the race, Lucas Mahias (Yamaha) and PJ Jacobsen (MV Agusta) were forced out with technical problems, while Thai wildcard Chalermpol Polamai (Yamaha) crashed out, having started second on the grid.