PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jonathan Rea scored his second Superpole at the second round of the World Superbike Championship in Thailand by heading off Aprilia Racing Red Devils’ Leon Haslam by 0.011 seconds—with a 1:33.382 being set near the end of the action on Saturday.
Straight off in Superpole 2 Jonathan Rea posted the fastest lap of the weekend, his 1:3.970 being unbeaten until Haslam piled in with a faster time a few minutes to go. Rea was to have the upper hand in the end, even as Haslam had pulled out a faster lap again, to take his sixth career Superpole win.
Alex Lowes was third fastest Superpole man, for Voltcom Crescent Suzuki, and Tom Sykes will be the first man off the second row for the 20-lap races on Sunday, after going fourth. He could not make the same use of his rear qualifier as Rea, leaving him struggling for edge grip on his quick lap.
Jordi Torres, Haslam’s Aprilia teammate, was fifth, 0.6 seconds from pole.
Aruba.it Racing Ducati’s Troy Bayliss thrilled the fans by going to third for a time in Superpole, only being displaced to seventh as the top men got into their stride. He was only one place behind full-time Ducati rider Chaz Davies on the grid, and less than a second from Rea in pole.
The first of the two Superpole contests, for the riders who had qualified from 11th to 20th in the regular sessions, saw Barni Racing Ducati’s Leandro Mercado and Pata Honda’s Michael van der Mark qualify for Superpole 2, with Sylvain Barrier on the BMW Motorrad Italia just missing out after a late push.
2015 World Superbike
Chang International Circuit
Superpole Results
1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki)
2. Leon Haslam (Aprilia)
3. Alex Lowes (Suzuki)
4. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki)
5. Jordi Torres (Aprilia)
6. Chaz Davies (Ducati)
7. Troy Bayliss (Ducati)
8. Michael van der Mark (Honda)
9. Sylvain Guintoli (Honda)
10. Leandro Mercado (Ducati)
