VOL. 54 ISSUE 10 MARCH 14, 2017 P35
of WorldSBK legend (but never
champion) Noriyuki Haga.
Rea's Australian race wins
were close two weeks ago, but
in Thailand, his plan to hit the
front early worked out to perfec-
tion, even in the second race
with its aborted start. He got up
to the leading bunch (despite
starting ninth under the new
rules for the race-two grid) when
red flags came out after Lorenzo
Savadori's Aprilia had up-ended
him with an oil leak.
On the restart, Rea was off
and running again. He only won
by 4.078 seconds after 16 laps
this time, rather than the 6.279
seconds in the opening 20-lap
race.
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Ducati
WorldSBK) and Tom Sykes (Ka-
wasaki Racing Team) shared the
podium with Rea in race one,
but Davies was both unlucky and
lucky in race two, as he fell and
restarted completely last. With
the red flag, he had to get off
the grid last, but he was only a
few feet back, not half a lap. This
helped him up to sixth, but a ma-
chine problem with his throttle
calibration after the fall stopped
him in sixth place, behind priva-
teer BMW rider Jordi Torres.
"I have been worse here for
sure, a lot worse here. The first
race, before it was red flagged,
felt good, as good as it has felt
all weekend," Davies said.
In the second race the podi-
ums were filled by Sykes and
returning WorldSBK hopeful
Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing
Ducati WorldSBK).
Don't tell Davies he was lucky,
as a performance differential
seems to have opened up again
between his bike and the leading
green one.
He still leaves Chang, always
his least favorite circuit in the
past, with points enough to keep
him second even after Sykes
scored two podiums.
Sykes performed the trick of
passing Melandri on the final
corner twice at Chang, even
after experiencing his own
problems with braking—as did
Melandri.
This is a Sykes in transition,
as he tried to change his style
to suit the new Kawasaki, and
the new rules, which prevent his
natural hard brakes, quick flick
and gas-it-out past. He set his
fastest laps at the end, even in
the heat of Thailand, so progress
is being made in what used to be
his late-race nemesis period.
For the Red Bull Honda team,
new electronics inside their
machines had them confident
things would be better but it was
a high rider drop-out in race two
that put Nicky Hayden seventh—
still his best finish so far. Bradl
crashed out of race two.
"It has been a very frustrating
weekend because we can't get
to figure out what is wrong with
the bike under braking and get
the engine brake working great,"
said Hayden. "But in race two,
the bike worked much better
after the red flag, and I was actu-
ally able to do my best lap-times
of the weekend."
In the overall championship,
after four races and two rounds,
Rea has a perfect 100 points,
Davies 70, and Sykes a slowly
closing 62. Lowes has scored
each time out to put him fourth
at 49 and Melandri has 45.
Gordon Ritchie
Slowly but surely, the new Honda is
coming along for Nicky Hayden.
