World Superbikes: Dominant Rea secures Thailand double

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Rea's double win was the third of his WSB career

Northern Ireland rider Jonathan Rea has won both races in the first ever World Superbike Championship round to be staged in Thailand.

The 28-year-old, based in the Isle of Man, started on pole position and led both races from start to finish.

After two rounds Rea, who now has 18 WSB career wins, leads the championship by 10 points from England's Leon Haslam - second in both races in Buriram.

It is an impressive start for Rea who moved to Kawasaki for the 2015 season.

He sits on 95 points out of a possible 100 as the WSB series heads to Aragon in Spain in three weeks' time.

Rea's Kawasaki team-mate, former champion Tom Sykes, was third and fifth at the Chang Circuit and is third in the championship on 50 points.

In the first race, Rea led for all 20 laps and took the flag with a winning margin of 6.329 seconds.

The Ulsterman then produced another sparkling lights-to-flag victory in race two to claim his third career World Superbike double.

World Superbike Championship Round Two, Chang International Circuit, Buriram, Thailand

Race One: 1 Jonathan Rea (Gbr) Kawasaki 31 mins 33.852 secs, 2 Leon Haslam (Gbr) Aprilia 31:40.181, 3 Tom Sykes (Gbr) Kawasaki 31:42.035, 4 Jordi Torres (Spa) Aprilia 31:42.365, 5 Sylvain Guintoli (Fra) Honda 31:54.354, 6 Matteo Baiocco (Ita) Ducati 31:59.970, 7 Alex Lowes (Gbr) Suzuki 32:00.001, 8 David Salom (Spa) Kawasaki 32:01.777, 9 Troy Bayliss (Aus) Ducati 32:02.026, 10 Leandro Mercado (Arg) Ducati 32:06.462.

Race Two: 1 Jonathan Rea (Gbr) Kawasaki 31 mins 31.173 secs, 2 Leon Haslam (Gbr) Aprilia 31:36.119, 3 Alex Lowes (Gbr) Suzuki 31:39.874, 4 Jordi Torres (Spa) Aprilia 31:41.801, 5 Tom Sykes (Gbr) Kawasaki 31:45.499, 6 Sylvain Guintoli (Fra) Honda 31:52.233, 7 Michael van der Mark (Ned) Honda 31:52.419, 8 Matteo Baiocco (Ita) Ducati 31:55.041, 9 David Salom (Spa) Kawasaki 31:56.917, 10 Leandro Mercado (Arg) Ducati 32:00.865.

Championship Standings: 1 Jonathan Rea (Gbr) Kawasaki 95pts, 2 Leon Haslam (Gbr) Aprilia 85, 3 Tom Sykes (Gbr) Kawasaki 50, 4 Sylvain Guintoli (Fra) Honda 41, 5 Jordi Torres (Spa) Aprilia 39, 6 Chaz Davies (Gbr) Ducati 38, 7 Alex Lowes (Gbr) Suzuki 32, 8 Matteo Baiocco (Ita) Ducati 30, 9 Nicolas Terol (Spa) Ducati 26, 10 Leandro Mercado (Arg) Ducati 21.