Securing his fiftieth podium finish for Kawasaki, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) had a faultless weekend in Buriram, dominating in both races as well as taking pole position.

Rea has a stunning record around the Thailand circuit, and he has won five races out of six around Chang International Circuit and now leaves with a championship lead of 30 points ahead of Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) as the series heads to Aragon.

Starting from pole position in the restarted race two on a sweltering Sunday, the 30 year old took advantage of the easier restarting position and he took off into the lead. Locked in a battle with Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in the early laps he was able to pull away, securing over a four second advantage as he crossed the line.

Rea was understandably thrilled with his weekend: “This is my best ever start to the season, I’m feeling good with the bike. I was so nervous about the ninth place start to be honest because this track is so hard to pass, especially with the speed of the Ducati’s.

“Melandri is so hard to pass, but I’m really lucky this weekend that I had sector three pretty dialled and as soon as I got into something there, and by T4 I put my head down and managed to snap Marco after three or four laps. This win is a massive thanks to all my team and all my mechanics; it’s been a hot weekend and they’ve been working relentlessly so these race wins are for them.”

Rea now heads to Europe with the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship for Round Three at MotorLand Aragon, which kicks off in three weeks time.