Melandri edges Rea to double up at Phillip Island

Full race two results from Phillip Island

Marco Melandri has clinched his first double race victory in World Superbikes since 2014 with a last-lap move on Jonathan Rea to win in the flag-to-flag race two.

The Aruba.it Racing Ducati rider and his World Superbike rivals took on a revised race two which was completed with a mandatory pit stop after earlier Pirelli tyres issues, with the majority of the grid carrying out untroubled tyre changes at the mid-race stage.

Despite the pack shuffling around during the pit stops Melandri clawed his way towards the front in the closing stages with a similar strategy to race one. Tucking into second place behind triple World Superbike champion Rea on the final lap, Melandri blasted past and in a sprint to the finish line clinched victory by just 0.021s from the Kawasaki rider.

Rea, who had been struggling with illness all race weekend, bounced back from a frustrating opening race when he was hit by late tyre trouble for second place but it marks the first time the Northern Irish rider hasn’t led the World Superbike championship since the Qatar 2014 round.

Melandri, taking his first World Superbike double victory since Jerez 2014 with Aprilia, completes the perfect start to the 2018 season with his 22^nd career win the series.

Barni Ducati’s Xavi Fores looked set to pull off a shock result having led for a number of laps in the closing stages but a late fade saw him miss out in third place but the result equals his best-ever finish in WorldSBK.

Tom Sykes claimed fourth place for Kawasaki to complete a solid start to his 2018 campaign having taken second place in the opener, with Pata Yamaha’s Alex Lowes stealing fifth place from Red Bull Honda’s Leon Camier at the chequered flag.

Michael van der Mark was forced to settle for seventh place for the factory Yamaha squad ahead of MV Agusta’s Jordi Torres as Loris Baz (Althea BMW) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Puccetti Kawasaki) completed the top ten.

It was a nightmare race for factory Ducati’s Chaz Davies having led after the pit stop but dropped out of contention on the first lap after his tyre changes in a low-side crash, while Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) was another faller from the lead in the opening stages.

Roman Ramos claimed 11^th place for Team GoEleven Kawasaki ahead of Leandro Mercado (Orelec Kawasaki) with Jake Gagne (Red Bull Honda) and PJ Jacobsen (TripleM Honda) taking points ahead of Laverty.