Racing

World Superbike Phillip Island Photo Gallery

Defending champ Rea doubles Down Under, Americans Hayden and Jacobsen disappointed

February 28, 2017

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) and Chaz Davies (Ducati) battled throughout both World Superbike races in Australia and emerged first and second, respectively, in the championship chase. Rea has won five of the six most recent races at Phillip Island.Courtesy of Dorna

Jonathan Rea launched his World Superbike title defense with a bang this past weekend in Australia, winning both 22-lap races at Phillip Island. Combined margin of victory over Chaz Davies, who won the final seven races of the 2016 season, was 0.067 seconds. Only Carl Fogarty, Troy Bayliss, and Noriyuki Haga have more series wins than Rea.

Rea started from pole position on Saturday, having chopped nearly half a second from the lap record set last year by his Kawasaki teammate, Tom Sykes. Former champ Sykes and returning Marco Melandri completed the front row. On Sunday—the first race to use the new partially inverted grid format—Rea needed just five laps to go from ninth to first.

After qualifying 11th on the his Honda, Nicky Hayden was ninth after the first lap, but finished 11th, roughly 10 seconds ahead of his new teammate, Stefan Bradl. In Race 2, Hayden crashed his CBR1000RR at Lukey Heights unhurt. The 35-year-old Kentuckian was credited with completing eight laps and left Australia 15th in points.

Fellow American PJ Jacobsen led all three World Supersport practice sessions and earned pole for the race. At the beginning of the red-flagged, two-part sprint, Jacobsen suffered what his MV Agusta Reparto Corse team called "an electronic problem." After the restart, he ran off track but returned to twice set the fastest lap and finish sixth.

Marco Melandri, Aruba.it Racing Ducati (DNF, P3): "When I took the lead, I tried to impose my own rhythm but it turned out not to be the right move. With three laps to go, when Rea and Davies gave the final push, I was struggling with grip and couldn’t attack them."Courtesy of Dorna

Alex Lowes, Pata Yamaha Team (P4, P4): "I felt that I had a good opportunity to get on the podium, but when I attacked on the last lap, I struggled more than I expected. The bike was working really well, but I was just not fast enough on the second half of the track."Courtesy of Yamaha

Tom Sykes, Kawasaki Racing Team (P3, P6): "I love Phillip Island, love the people, love the track, but we have never had two strong races here. I had to use a little bit too much rear tire. I got a bit carried away because I wanted more than third after yesterday’s podium.”Courtesy of Kawasaki

Michael van der Mark, Pata Yamaha Team (P9, P7): "I was five seconds closer to the front compared to yesterday, and it was easier to ride the bike. At the end, I was happy because I was still doing consistent lap times and we improved the race performance."Courtesy of Yamaha

Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Racing Team (P1, P1): "While that 40th career victory means a lot, it is more important to put a good score on the board for round one. I feel good about this bike. I can ride less on the limit, and we have more tire left to fight with at the end of races."Courtesy of Kawasaki

Leon Camier, MV Agusta Reparto Corse (P5, P8): "We were expecting a more difficult race than yesterday, with everyone pushing hard from the beginning. Maybe we made a little mistake with the chassis but now we know which direction we need to go with the setting."Courtesy of MV Agusta

Nicky Hayden, Red Bull Honda WorldSBK (P11, DNF): "I set my fastest lap of the race and was improving my splits while trying to stay with the second group, but I over-pushed and came off the bike. I tried my best and rode as hard as I could, but it didn’t go to plan."Courtesy of Honda

Chaz Davies, Aruba.it Racing Ducati (P2, P2): "When you look at the full picture, this is a really positive result. It would be easy to be disappointed because we barely missed two wins, but historically this has never been a favorite circuit for me and sometimes I lost precious points here.”Courtesy of Ducati

PJ Jacobsen, MV Agusta Reparto Corse (P6): "Honestly, today was a lucky and unlucky day at the same time. It was very difficult because I was in P1 all weekend, and I wanted to win the race so badly. In the end, the important thing is we get some good points."Courtesy of MV Agusta