Rea dominates Thai WSBK as Bayliss hits top 10

Brit Jonathan Rea has dominated the second round of the World Superbike Championship, taking a double victory at Thailand’s Chang International Circuit.

Rea, in just his second event on the Kawasaki, took command in both heats to lead every lap from pole position.

He now holds a 10 point advantage in the championship over Aprilia’s Leon Haslam, who took a pair of second places from the respective Thai races.

Haslam had to work hard for his podiums, passing eventual third place finisher Tom Sykes midway through Race 1, before getting the better of a determined Alex Lowes in Race 2.

Sykes could manage no better than a quiet fifth in the second encounter and now sits third in the standings, a full 45 points adrift of Rea.

Lowes had earlier crashed out of Race 1 while running third, much to the benefit of Sykes.

The star of the second race was arguably Sylvain Guintoli who, after scoring fifth in Race 1, fought from last on the grid (the result of missing the sighting lap) to sixth.

Further back, Australian Troy Bayliss recorded ninth and 11th place finishes from his second weekend aboard the Aruba Racing Ducati.

Bayliss had taken the Race 1 chequered flag in eighth, but was later penalised for overtaking under yellow flags.

The World Superbike Championship continues on April 10-12 in Aragon, Spain, where the injured Davide Giugliano is scheduled to return to the controls of the Ducati.

*Speedcafe.com will provide live updates for this weekend’s Symmons Plains V8 Supercars event from Tasmania.