Image: Russell Colvin.

Kawasaki Racing Team’s current Motul Superbike World Champion Jonathan Rea has claimed the race one win on board the 2016 ZX-10R at Phillip Island this afternoon.

Rea took a 0.063s victory after 22 laps over Chaz Davies (Ducati) in a thriller, which featured as many as eight riders in the lead group during the first half.

Michael Van Der Mark (Honda) completed the podium, with David Giugliano (Ducati) also finishing within a second of the lead in fourth, ahead of Rea’s teammate Tom Sykes.

Pata Yamaha’s return to WorldSBK was a positive one as Sylvain Guintoli surged to sixth, leading home Leon Camier (MV Agusta), Jordi Torres (BMW), Nicky Hayden (Honda) and Australia’s Josh Brookes (BMW).

Hayden was in the fight for the victory early on in the hard-fought race before eventually limping home to ninth, comfortably ahead of the fast-finishing Brookes, who came from 18th on the grid.

Australian Superbike Champion Mike Jones (DesmoSport Ducati) scored two points for 14th place, getting the better of Sylvain Barrier (Kawasaki) in the closing laps for the Troy Bayliss co-owned factory-supported squad.