Rea dominates again to claim double Thai victory
Sunday, 22 March 2015 - 3 manufacturers in the top 3 in race 2. The second WorldSBK race of the day at the Chang International Circuit saw another lights-to-flag victory by Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team), who claimed his 18th career win and extended his lead in the championship to 10 points in the process. The third double of his career Ulsterman capped a perfect weekend for the Ulsterman, who was dominant all weekend long as he also claimed Pole Position and recorded the fastest laps in both encounters. Incredibly enough, he led every single lap of racing, too.Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki), who was keen to make up for the error that cost him a race one podium made a lightning start, shadowing Rea for the first half of the race before succumbing to fellow British rider Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils), who notched up his second consecutive 2nd place of the day.
Other KRT rider Tom Sykes had a fairly uneventful race to claim 5th just behind Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils), who scored another solid result in his debut WorldSBK season in 4th. The Spaniard pushed hard to overtake the former champion with two laps to go, eventually completing a successful manoeuvre into turn 3.
Clutch problems for the reigning World Champion Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) saw the Frenchman having to start from the rear of the grid after missing the sighting lap. He would have an incredible first lap that saw him complete the first lap in 12th. He would eventually finish 6th after getting the better of team-mate Michael van der Mark, who made up for his retirement in race one by finishing 7th.
A group of four riders fought hard for the majority of the 20-lap race for the remaining top ten spots. Matteo Baiocco (Althea Racing Ducati) took 8th ahead of David Salom (Team Pedercini Kawasaki) and Leandro Mercado (Barni Racing Ducati), with Troy Bayliss (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati Superbike Team) finishing just outside of the top ten in 11th.
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati Superbike Team) suffered his second crash of the day early in the race but fortunately as in race 1 he was able to remount, eventually scoring the final championship point with 15th.
Team Hero EBR riders Niccolo Canepa and Larry Pegram didn’t participate in race 2, both suffering engine issues caused by the extreme heat.
In terms of the overall championship standings Rea leads the way with 95 points out of a possible 100, 10 ahead of Haslam as the series heads to Aragon in Spain in three weeks’ time.
Buriram, 20-21-22 March 2015, Superbike - Results race 2
1 65 J. REA GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R
2 91 L. HASLAM GBR Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils Aprilia RSV4
3 22 A. LOWES GBR VOLTCOM Crescent Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000
4 81 J. TORRES ESP Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils Aprilia RSV4
5 66 T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R
6 1 S. GUINTOLI FRA PATA Honda World Superbike Team Honda CBR1000RR
7 60 M. VD MARK NED PATA Honda World Superbike Team Honda CBR1000RR
8 15 M. BAIOCCO ITA Althea Racing Ducati Panigale
9 44 D. SALOM ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R
10 36 L. MERCADO ARG BARNI Racing Team Ducati Panigale
11 21 T. BAYLISS AUS Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team Ducati Panigale
12 18 N. TEROL ESP Althea Racing Ducati Panigale
13 20 S. BARRIER FRA BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team BMW S1000
14 40 R. RAMOS ESP Team Go Eleven Kawasaki ZX-10R
15 7 C. DAVIES GBR Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team Ducati Panigale
16 43 G. GILDENHUYS RSA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R
17 9 A. NAKCHAROENSRTIHA YSS TS Racing Honda CBR1000RR
Superbike - Drivers' standings
1 - REA - Points 95
2 - HASLAM - Points 85
3 - SYKES - Points 50
4 - GUINTOLI - Points 41
5 - TORRES - Points 39
6 - DAVIES - Points 38
7 - LOWES - Points 32
8 - BAIOCCO - Points 30
9 - TEROL - Points 26
10 - MERCADO - Points 21
