Pole-setter Michael van der Mark got a much better start to Race 2 in Thailand and got to T1 in second place, before running slightly wide at the following corner and making contact with Ducati’s Chaz Davies in a short moment of drama. The Dutchman tried to stay with the leading Kawasaki Racing Team duo and kept third place up to the tenth lap, before being overtaken by the Panigale R of Davies.

Nicky Hayden had a good launch off the line from eighth on the grid and battled with the Yamaha duo of Sylvain Guintoli and Alex Lowes in the first half of the race. As soon as he got into fifth and with clear track ahead, the 2006 MotoGP World Champion was able to ride at a far quicker pace, consolidating his position and ending the race on a high note after a difficult first race in his first outing at Chang International Circuit.

“It was not an easy race but I have to be happy with the result,” said van der Mark. “Pole position, third place in race one and now a fourth place definitely surpass the expectations we had before the round, given the difficulties encountered last year. I’m really happy about the bike and my own pace. We decided not to change the front tyre type for race two and, although we knew it was a bit of a gamble, it turned out not to be best choice. It was a risk we had to take and we have 13 more points to add to our tally.”

“I must say that the bike felt a lot better today,” added Hayden, who despite his vast wealth of racing experience remains a rookie in WorldSBK. “We made a lot of changes overnight and I simply just felt more comfortable, maybe not perfect but surely the improvement was there. I was able to ride without making mistakes and the bike was perfectly smooth. I would lie if I didn’t say that after the warm up I thought I could have put up a better fight, but nonetheless I learned a lot again and overall it was a good weekend.”

Van der Mark and Hayden will be aiming for the podium once again at MotorLand Aragon next time out as WorldSBK returns to Europe.