WSBK HONOURS SHARED
Kawasaki new-boy Jonathan Rea took victory and a runner-up finish to join Aprilia’s Leon Haslam at top of WSBK Championships after his best ever weekend at Phillip Island’s opening round of the 2015 season.
Rea clinched a hard-earned victory to mark his debut for his new team in style.
The Ulsterman came out on top of a final lap duel with Haslam to win the opener on the ZX-10R by 0.039s and completed a stunning weekend by taking second place in race two behind Haslam after another cliff-hanging finish between the pair.
The 28-year-old Rea is tied at the top of the points standings with Haslam after round one on 45 points and Rea admitted later he could not have dreamed of such a strong start to the 2015 season at a track where he had yet to finish on the rostrum until Sunday.
“I could not have had a better weekend. The team were not so optimistic about winning races or being on the podium here with the pace of some other bikes but together with Pere, Paolo, Javier, all the guys from Showa, all my mechanics, we worked really hard and never lost sight of our goal, which was to be strong for 22-laps each time,” he said.
“Leon just had more pace today in each race, so race one fell in my hands a little, but I am so happy to be getting out of here with 45 points and starting the season strongly. I did not expect these results at all.
“We were not the most optimistic so to be just pipped by a small margin in race two, and by my old team-mate Leon; I am happy for him,” added Rea, who has now won 16 WSBK races since his debut in 2009.
“We did the maximum we could and came away with the maximum points we could have had. I am happy and excited to move on from here with 45 points.”
Rea seemed to have race two sewn up only for Haslam to draft past on the run to the line, with the Aprilia rider taking the win by one hundred of a second to deny his old Pata Honda team-mate an Aussie double.
Race one results:
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Gap | Best Lap | Speed | |
| 65 | J. REA | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 1’31.925 | 314,9 | ||
| 91 | L. HASLAM | Aprilia RSV4 RF | 0.039 | 1’31.826 | 320,5 | |
| 7 | C. DAVIES | Ducati Panigale R | 0.496 | 1’31.843 | 319,5 | |
| 81 | J. TORRES | Aprilia RSV4 RF | 2.259 | 1’31.832 | 324,3 | |
| 60 | M. VD MARK | Honda CBR1000RR SP | 9.838 | 1’31.966 | 319,5 | |
| 66 | T. SYKES | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 13.761 | 1’32.016 | 317,6 | |
| 1 | S. GUINTOLI | Honda CBR1000RR SP | 14.021 | 1’32.121 | 320,5 | |
| 18 | N. TEROL | Ducati Panigale R | 15.954 | 1’32.080 | 319,5 | |
| 22 | A. LOWES | Suzuki GSX-R1000 | 21.106 | 1’32.690 | 318,6 | |
| 2 | L. CAMIER | MV Agusta 1000 F4 | 24.771 | 1’32.999 | 307,7 | |
| 15 | M. BAIOCCO | Ducati Panigale R | 28.920 | 1’33.146 | 316,7 | |
| 36 | L. MERCADO | Ducati Panigale R | 35.929 | 1’33.297 | 315,8 | |
| 21 | T. BAYLISS | Ducati Panigale R | 40.315 | 1’32.346 | 314,0 | |
| 77 | J. METCHER | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 45.090 | 1’33.513 | 305,1 | |
| 20 | S. BARRIER | BMW S1000 RR | 46.444 | 1’33.281 | 314,0 | |
| 40 | R. RAMOS | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 53.331 | 1’33.657 | 309,5 | |
| 14 | R. DE PUNIET | Suzuki GSX-R1000 | 58.811 | 1’32.402 | 315,8 | |
| 72 | L. PEGRAM | EBR 1190 RX | 1’06.071 | 1’34.513 | 293,5 | |
| 51 | S. BARRAGÁN | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 1’06.110 | 1’34.507 | 291,9 | |
| 10 | I. TOTH | BMW S1000 RR | 1 Lap | 1’37.967 | 300,8 |
Race two results:
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Gap | Best Lap | Speed | |
| 91 | L. HASLAM | Aprilia RSV4 RF | 1’31.889 | 318,6 | ||
| 65 | J. REA | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 0.010 | 1’32.049 | 320,5 | |
| 7 | C. DAVIES | Ducati Panigale R | 0.298 | 1’31.725 | 319,5 | |
| 66 | T. SYKES | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 5.242 | 1’31.837 | 316,7 | |
| 1 | S. GUINTOLI | Honda CBR1000RR SP | 14.649 | 1’32.146 | 317,6 | |
| 18 | N. TEROL | Ducati Panigale R | 16.025 | 1’32.389 | 317,6 | |
| 14 | R. DE PUNIET | Suzuki GSX-R1000 | 22.300 | 1’32.282 | 314,9 | |
| 2 | L. CAMIER | MV Agusta 1000 F4 | 23.606 | 1’32.866 | 305,1 | |
| 15 | M. BAIOCCO | Ducati Panigale R | 23.818 | 1’33.089 | 314,0 | |
| 40 | R. RAMOS | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 35.775 | 1’32.976 | 305,9 | |
| 36 | L. MERCADO | Ducati Panigale R | 39.929 | 1’33.728 | 309,5 | |
| 20 | S. BARRIER | BMW S1000 RR | 46.267 | 1’32.967 | 314,0 | |
| 51 | S. BARRAGÁN | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 57.893 | 1’34.145 | 291,9 | |
| 72 | L. PEGRAM | EBR 1190 RX | 1’02.676 | 1’34.466 | 295,1 | |
| 23 | C. PONSSON | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 1’05.262 | 1’34.851 | 299,2 | |
| 21 | T. BAYLISS | Ducati Panigale R | 1 Lap | 1’32.117 | 314,0 | |
| 10 | I. TOTH | BMW S1000 RR | 1 Lap | 1’37.099 | 300,0 |
WSBK standings after round one:
| L. Haslam | Aprilia | 45 | ||
| J. Rea | Kawasaki | 45 | ||
| C. Davies | Ducati | 32 | -13 | |
| T. Sykes | Kawasaki | 23 | -22 | |
| S. Guintoli | Honda | 20 | -25 | |
| N. Terol | Ducati | 18 | -27 | |
| L. Camier | MV Agusta | 14 | -31 | |
| J. Torres | Aprilia | 13 | -32 | |
| M. Baiocco | Ducati | 12 | -33 | |
| M. vd Mark | Honda | 11 | -34 | |
| R. De Puniet | Suzuki | 9 | -36 | |
| L. Mercado | Ducati | 9 | -36 | |
| A. Lowes | Suzuki | 7 | -38 | |
| R. Ramos | Kawasaki | 6 | -39 | |
| S. Barrier | BMW | 5 | -40 | |
| S. Barragan | Kawasaki | 3 | -42 | |
| T. Bayliss | Ducati | 3 | -42 | |
| L. Pegram | EBR | 2 | -43 | |
| J. Metcher | Kawasaki | 2 | -43 | |
| C. Ponsson | Kawasaki | 1 | -44 |