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SBK, At Buriram Davies and Ducati have a curse to lift

The Welshman has still never had a victory with the Red on the Chang track, Rea and Kawasaki have their sights set on the double brace

SBK: At Buriram Davies and Ducati have a curse to lift

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Superbike heads to Buriram for the second round of the season with the factory derivative bikes. It will be Thailand hosting the first of the two Asian rounds. A fast track with its long straights predominating. Kawasaki is keen to confirm their performance at Phillip Island and Johnny Rea is ready to set his sights on the double brace of wins on the Chang track. Last year it was his teammate Sykes who rained on his parade in Race 2.  

The rider who is undoubtedly dreaming about leaving his mark on Buriram is Chaz Davies. Until now, he has never managed to finish on the top step of the podium and last year he was forced to settle for the bottom step in Race 2. And to think that in Asia, Ducati is the Manufacturer that has won more than anyone else, boasting 26 wins from 1988 to the present, followed by Kawasaki at 14 and Honda at 11.

In the last twelve years – from 2005 through 2016 – the only riders able to take the Ducati to the top in Asia were Troy Bayliss (Race 1 at Losail - 2008) and Chaz Davies (Race 2 at Sepang - 2015 and double win at Losail last year). The Welshman certainly does not want to let this chance slip through his fingers and neither does Marco Melandri, who is heading to Chang for the first time in his career.

Taking a stroll down memory lane, we can see that the most victorious riders on the Asian continent were active in the ‘90s: Carl Fogarty won no less than seven times (2 at Johor, 2 at Sugo and 3 at Sentul), followed by Doug Polen (6) and Raymond Roche (4). Jonathan Rea has caught up with the latter and now he is aiming to overtake.

Translated by Jonathan Blosser
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