Chaz Davies wins in Thailand as open start to World Superbike season continues

The wide open start to the 2018 World Superbike Championship continued in Thailand on Sunday as Chaz Davies became the third different rider to win one of the opening four rounds of the season.

After reigning champion Jonathan Rea won the opening round at the Chang International Circuit, the Ducati of Davies stormed through the field for the second-round victory.

Rea leads the early championship standings but is just 12 points clear of fellow Brit Davies in fourth, with Marco Melandri and Javier Fores also in the fight.

Melandri headed to Thailand on the back of two wins at the opening weekend in Australia but the Italian struggled this time out, with a seventh-placed finish for the Ducati rider leaving him well off the pace.

Both Davies and Rea had eventful second-round races with Davies battling past seven rivals to take the front, while Rea also executed a number of overtakes before errors left him off the podium.

The Yamaha pair of Michael van der Mark and Alex Lowes would take second and third, respectively, while the Ducati of Fores came home behind Rea in fifth.