Kawasaki Racing’s Jonathan Rea scored back-to-back World Superbike wins in Thailand, dominating both races from start to finish in the series’ first-ever round at Chang International Circuit. Aprilia Racing’s Leon Haslam finished runner-up to Rea in both races. Rea’s teammate, Tom Sykes, finished third in Race 1 and Voltcom Crescent Suzuki’s Alex Lowes earned the final step on the podium in Race 2.
Race 1
Rea started from pole position and got a great jump off the line, dipping into the first turn at the head of the pack. Haslam gave chase in second followed by Sykes in third. Positions shuffled through the opening lap however, with Aruba.it Racing Ducati’s Chaz Davies pushing up to third, Sykes moving into second and Haslam dropping to fourth. Rea was the constant, opening a gap of nearly one second on the field by the end of the opening rotation.
The running order continued to shift through the subsequent laps, Haslam passing his way back up the field to assume second-place by Lap 3 and Lowes getting ahead of Davies for fourth. Davies faced additional pressure from Haslam’s teammate, Jordi Torres, the Spaniard passing for fifth-place on Lap 4. Davies and Torres would stay close though, and the Ducati rider regained position on Torres soon after.
Rea continued to tick off one consistent lap after another and Haslam, in second, had a comfortable advantage over the third-placed rider by Lap 7. Sykes held to third but Lowes was coming up quick at this point, finally making a move that caught the Kawasaki rider off guard, forcing him to check up a bit to avoid an accident.
Sykes later had Davies to deal with as the Ducati rider pushed to make up ground, but on the final corner of Lap 9, Davies lost the front and went down. He was able to remount and rejoin the race, but was well outside the top-10 by the time he got rolling again.
Halfway into the event, Rea continued to manage his lead on Haslam while Lowes pushed to close the gap to second. On Lap 12 the Suzuki rider’s fortunes took a turn, Lowes suffering a similar lowside crash in the final turn as Davies did a few laps earlier. Lowes was even quicker than Davies to remount, and was back in action in ninth-place.
The final laps saw Rea remain unchallenged at the front and Haslam hold easily to second-place. Following Lowes’ off, Sykes moved back up to third-place with Torres trailing close behind in fourth. The Aprilia rider gave Sykes plenty of looks in an effort to get on the podium, but Sykes kept the door closed.
Torres finished Race 1 in fourth followed by Pata Honda’s Sylvain Guintoli in fifth. Althea Racing’s Matteo Baiocco ended in sixth with Lowes fighting his way back up to seventh. Lowes had crossed the line in sixth but was later penalized for passing on a yellow flag on Lap 14. Team Pedercini’s David Salom finished eighth trailed by Davies’ teammate, Troy Bayliss, who was also penalized with a yellow flag violation and dropped a position to ninth. Barni Racing Team’s Leandro Mercado rounded out the top-10.
There were a number of riders forced to an early end in Race 1 with mechanical issues, including MV Agusta’s Leon Camier, Larry Pegram and Niccolo Canepa of Team Hero EBR, and Pata Honda’s Michael van der Mark.
World Superbike Thailand Race 1 Results 2015
1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki)
2. Leon Haslam (Aprilia)
3. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki)
4. Jordi Torres (Aprilia)
5. Sylvain Guintoli (Honda)
6. Matteo Baiocco (Ducati)
7. Alex Lowes (Suzuki)
8. David Salom (Kawasaki)
9. Troy Bayliss (Ducati)
10. Leandro Mercado (Ducati)
11. Chaz Davies (Ducati)
12. Nicolas Terol (Ducati)
13. Randy de Puniet (Suzuki)
14. Sylvain Barrier (BMW)
15. Roman Ramos (Kawasaki)
16. Greg Gildenhuys (Kawasaki)
17. Santiago Barragan (Kawasaki)
18. Imre Toth (BMW)
19. Ireneusz Sikora (BMW)
Race 2
Rea kept his strategy the same for Race 2, blasting off the start to the lead in Turn 1. Haslam again trailed in second with Lowes and Sykes in third and fourth.
Haslam was unable to hold to the runner-up spot through the initial lap, with Lowes making an aggressive pass in Turn 3 which stood the Aprilia up momentarily. Davies was making moves as well, getting ahead of Sykes and then Haslam for third-position in the opening rotation.
By the end of Lap 2, Rea had already stretched a multiple bike-length lead on Lowes while Davies and Haslam duked it out behind for third-place. On Lap 3 Haslam was able to get ahead of the Ducati for third-position and begin his assault on Lowes. Rea, meanwhile, was almost two seconds ahead of Lowes in the lead. Sykes held to fifth position followed once again by Torres.
On Lap 5 disaster struck Davies for the second time, the Ducati going down in Turn 3. He took longer to rejoin than after the incident in Race 1, but was able to finish Race 2 in 15th position. The following rotation saw Haslam close up on Lowes for second-place, starting a battle that would last for a handful of laps before Haslam made the move into the number-two spot.
The second half of the race featured few fireworks as Rea continued to log one flawless lap after another. Haslam and Lowes also remained uncontested during the latter stages.
“For me it has been a perfect weekend with pole position and two race wins – we could not have asked for any more,” explained Rea. “The bike can always be better but at the beginning of the weekend the Ninja ZX-10R was at a really good level, my pace was really fast, the rhythm was good so we did not necessarily chase something we really could have got lost with. Our base setting right now is good and it gives me confidence to push the boundaries and understand the bike. I have not had so many double wins in my career but I have been lucky to have some. They do not come round a lot so I want to savor this moment and reflect on what we have done tomorrow and enjoy these next few days.”
Sykes, however, had Torres on his back once again and this time the Aprilia rider was able to make a move on the Kawasaki ace on Lap 19. This put Torres into fourth-place by the checkers, followed by Sykes in fifth.
Guintoli took sixth trailed by Van der Mark in seventh and Baiocco in eighth. Salom finished in ninth, Mercado in 10th and Bayliss in 11th.
Rea leaves Thailand with the overall points lead, 10 ahead of Haslam in second. Sykes sits third followed by Guintoli in fourth and Torres in fifth.
World Superbike Thailand Race 2 Results 2015
1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki)
2. Leon Haslam (Aprilia)
3. Alex Lowes (Suzuki)
4. Jordi Torres (Aprilia)
5. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki)
6. Sylvain Guintoli (Honda)
7. Michael van der Mark (Honda)
8. Matteo Baiocco (Ducati)
9. David Salom (Kawasaki)
10. Leandro Mercado (Ducati)
11. Troy Bayliss (Ducati)
12. Nicolas Terol (Ducati)
13. Sylvain Barrier (BMW)
14. Roman Ramos (Kawasaki)
15. Chaz Davies (Ducati)
16. Greg Gildenhuys (Kawasaki)
17. Anucha Nakcharoensri (Honda)
18. Imre Toth (BMW)
19. Ireneusz Sikora (BMW)
20. Chanon Chumjai (BMW)
World Superbike Championship Points 2015
1. Jonathan Rea, 95
2. Leon Haslam, 85
3. Tom Sykes, 50
4. Sylvain Guintoli, 41
5. Jordi Torres, 39
6. Chaz Davies, 38
7. Alex Lowes, 32
8. Matteo Baiocco, 30
9. Nicolas Terol, 26
10. Leandro Mercado, 21
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