Jonathan Rea completed a near-faultless championship season in the grand manner by winning the final race of the year at Losail, making WorldSBK history in the process. The Ulsterman won his sixteenth race of the season to break Colin Edwards’ fifteen-year record for the highest points total in a single season in WorldSBK history.
For once, Rea didn’t make his usual rapid progress from the third row of the grid with Chaz Davies the man to hit the front early on, the Welshman chasing the championship runner-up spot. The lead would finally change hands on lap four though as Davies suffered an extraordinary moment at turn five, the near-highside seeing Chaz smash his own screen as he wrestled control of his Ducati.
Although the race victory was becoming increasingly out of reach, Davies had actually done enough already to finish runner-up in the world championship after a rare crash for Tom Sykes. The Yorkshireman lost the front end of his Kawasaki while running third and with Davies already carrying a ten point lead into the final race, Tom would have to settle for third in the championship.
The PATA Yamaha duo ended the season on a high with Alex Lowes edging out Michael van der Mark for the final rostrum position while Xavi Fores put the disappointment of race one behind him by beating Marco Melandri for fifth. Polesitter Eugene Laverty finished seventh on a day when his team-mate Lorenzo Savadori was ruled out by mechanical trouble while Sylvain Guintoli, Leon Camier and Roman Ramos rounded out the top ten.
WorldSBK 2017: Acerbis Qatar Round – Race Two Result
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