WSBK Thai Round – 5 out of 5 as Bautista wins shortened Superpole Race

March 17, 2019

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati) continued his incredible early season form, by claiming his fifth straight victory of the season, in a shortened Superpole Race.

After 7 completed laps of the scheduled 10, the red flag was shown. The cause of which was due to a heavy crash down at turn 3 involving Thai wildcard Thitipong Warokorn (Kawasaki Thailand Racing Team). The rider has been taken to the circuit’s medical centre.

As was the case yesterday, the Spaniard initially lost the lead off the line as chief rival Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) produced another brilliant start to take the lead into the first corner. However, the sheer advantage in straight line speed saw the Ducati man quickly reverse positions and resume normal order. Once in front Bautista pulled away up the road, finishing a couple of seconds ahead of Rea.

Unlike in SBK Race 1 on Saturday, there were no close shenanigans between the duo. No doubt saving the fireworks until the final race of the weekend.

Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha) resumed their war from yesterday. However an error from the Italian early on left him at the mercy of Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha). It didn’t take long for the flying Dutchman to force his way past the pair. Haslam eventually getting the better of Melandri, the pair finishing P5 and P6 respectively.

Despite the short race distance, van der Mark looked to close the gap down to his teammate Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha). The British rider has had a brilliant weekend so far, and underlined this form with another third place. There were plenty of smiles from both Lowes and his team in parc ferme afterwards, they believe they have the pace to beat the Kawasaki of Jonathan Rea later today in SBK Race 2.

Finally, there was a strong ride produced by Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Ducati) who managed to secure P8 by the time the red flag was brought out. The Welshman has gradually begun to look more like his old self as the weekend has worn on, and his clinical block pass on Toprak Razgatlioglu (Puccetti Racing Kawasaki) will no doubt have been very satisfying for both he and the team.

Superpole Results- Top 9