Superbike: Jonathan Rea wins an amazing Race 1 in a sprint

At Phillip Island in Race 1 everything happens in the last 8 laps which see Leon Haslam as the absolute protagonist competing with Jonathan Rea for the top step of the podium: at the finish line the winner was the new Kawasaki rider who marks his debut with the "green" with a sensational victory, with head and strength, ahead of Haslam and Chaz Davies.

Rea was the author of practically perfect race management, leading from start to finish and, apart from the last two laps of close battle with the British Aprilia Racing Red Devils rider, he never had any difficulty controlling his pursuers, with only Chaz Davies keeping his pace until around 3 laps to go.

However, we were saying that the absolute protagonist of the race was the British rider who had recently signed up for Aprilia: Haslam who seemed to have thrown away a safe podium with a bad excursion on the grass during the 15th lap.
He could have gotten lost and instead, helped by an amazing RSV4, he was the author of an amazing comeback against his teammate Jordi Torres, who was excellent fourth on his debut, and Chaz Davies, third with the Ducati.

The performance of the other rookies was also noteworthy, with Michael Van der Mark taking his Honda CBR to fifth place and Nico Terol, eighth behind two very champions Tom Sykes and Sylvain Guintoli.

Bad news for Niccolò Canepa who, after a fall with seven laps to go, was taken to the medical centre: a fracture in his left leg was suspected but fortunately the tests only revealed a bad sprain in his left ankle, which in any case will not allow him to take part in the second race.

A good thirteenth place for Troy Bayliss who managed to keep the pace of the leaders: for him the gaps are in the order of second.

Finally, no warning for rookie Michael Van der Mark for the contact with Tom Sykes at the start of the race, at the treacherous turn 1.

Meet at 4pm with the start of Race 40.

Below is the order of arrival for Race 1:
1. Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R
2. Leon Haslam GBR Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 +0.039s
3. Chaz Davies GBR Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R +0.496s
4. Jordi Torres ESP Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 +2.259s
5. Michael van der Mark NED PATA Honda CBR1000RR +9.838s
6. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +13.761s
7. Sylvain Guintoli FRA PATA Honda CBR1000RR +14.021s
8. Nico Terol ESP Althea Ducati 1199R +15.954s
9. Alex Lowes GBR Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +21.106s
10. Leon Camier GBR MV Agusta F4 RR +24.771s
11. Matteo Baiocco ITA Althea Ducati 1199R +28.920s
12. Tati Mercado ARG Barni Ducati 1199R +35.929s
13. Troy Bayliss AUS Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R +40.315s
14. Jed Metcher AUS Race Center Kawasaki ZX-10R +45.090s
15. Sylvain Barrier FRA BMW Italia S1000RR +46.444s
16. Roman Ramos ESP GO Eleven Kawasaki ZX-10R +53.331s
17. Randy de Puniet FRA Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +58.811s
18. Larry Pegram USA Team Hero EBR 1190RX +1m 06.071s
19. Santiago Barragan ESP Grillini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 06.110s
20. Imre Toth HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR +1 lap

21. Niccolo Canepa ITA Team Hero EBR 1190RX 7 laps completed
22. Christophe Ponsson LUX Grillini Kawasaki ZX-10R 13 laps completed