Series leader Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) had his first real match point for the 2015 WorldSBK title in Race 2 at the Sepang International Circuit, eventually missing out on victory by less than a tenth of a second. The race-long battle for the win with Ducati’s Chaz Davies eventually came down to the last corner, when the Welshman let the brakes off to get the inside of his rival, a manoeuvre that eventually led to the two riders making contact.

But there were no harsh feelings between the two, as Rea now only needs six points to clinch the ultimate prize, a World Championship that will almost certainly be his after we convene again following the summer break.

“I’m really happy after a good weekend and happy to go into the summer break healthy and looking forward to Jerez” said Rea. “With three laps to go in race two Arturo my mechanic gave me a bit of a secret signal and I knew if I went then I could catch Chaz. Halfway around the last lap I realised it would be possible. I passed Chaz and went through clean. We had contact but I do not blame him for that – I would do the same – but I almost crashed at the same time. I am really happy because we got another first and second on a race weekend and a bagful of points. If I had won the championship here maybe my wife would not have spoken to me for a day or two because she is at home! I just wanted to have a really good weekend and we did that.”