Given Kawasaki’s dominance at the Buriram circuit since WorldSBK began using it two years ago, it’s no surprise that Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes are topping the timesheets on the first day of practice in Thailand but it seems easy for the current champion to pull out a lap and not so easy for the former champion.
Rea was quickest in both practices, leading Marco Melandri by a tenth in the opener and began the second session with a 20-lap race simulation, a 20-minute break in the garage, an out lap, a 1’33.573 to make sure he topped the sheets to show everyone who is boss and then back into the garage as the chequered flag was waved.
Sykes, on the other hand, is still looking for a setting, doing four stints with his best of time 1’33.783 trailing Rea by 0.210. It was enough to shove the Aruba Ducati of Melandri back to third place as the Italian couldn’t better his 1’33.852 set this morning and that was still enough to best team-mate Chaz Davies by 0.043s on the combined sheets.
Pata Yamaha’s Alex Lowes hauled himself up to fifth place with his fastest lap of 1’34.016 to end a little under half a second off the pace but he also put in a 22-lap race run at the start of the second session. Xavi Fores and Jordi Torres were late to the party and got themselves into the top ten with only a couple of minutes to spare.
Michael Van Der Mark, on the second crisp-liveried R1, put in a short run of laps with ten minutes left which secured him a spot in Superpole two after completing a race simulation early doors. Markus Reiterberger and Eugene Laverty rounded out the automatic entrants. The Irishman’s Milwaukee Aprilia team-mate Lorenzo Savadori had been inside the top ten but late laps by other riders dropped him to 11th place and his 1’34.554 was as good as it got.
Stefan Bradl, on the Red Bull Honda, was on the cusp of the top ten but never quite made it while team-mate Nicky Hayden will be kicking himself as he aborted a lap good enough for fifth place, rolling into pitlane with 15 minutes left, and never again replicating the pace.
Leon Camier put the MV Agusta into 14th place after it didn’t turn a lap in the morning session.
Second session top-ten speeds
1 1 J. REA Kawasaki ZX-10R 305,9
2 33 M. MELANDRI Ducati Panigale R 304,2
3 7 C. DAVIES Ducati Panigale R 303,4
4 50 E. LAVERTY Aprilia RSV4 RF 303,4
5 66 T. SYKES Kawasaki ZX-10R 302,5
6 21 M. REITERBERGER BMW S 1000 RR 302,5
7 81 J. TORRES BMW S 1000 RR 301,7
8 6 S. BRADL Honda CBR1000RR 300,8
9 60 M. VAN DER MARK Yamaha YZF R1 300,8
10 69 N. HAYDEN Honda CBR1000RR 299,2
