Image: Supplied.

Australian newcomer Billy Van Eerde is second in the Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup standings following another immensely successful round at Buriram in Thailand alongside the Superbike World Championship.

After storming to victory in Qatar’s second race of the season, Van Eerde put forward an exceptional performance once again at round two to score third on Saturday and second on Sunday.

Race one at Chang International Circuit was won by Japanese ace Haruki Noguchi ahead of Mario Aji and Van Eerde, while the nail-biting second encounter going down to the wire between Noguchi and the determined Aussie rookie.

Van Eerde and Noguchi were just able to stay clear enough over the final laps to make it a duel for glory. The Australian made a classic Buriram last lap lunge to try and take his second win and they were side-by-side as they blasted down the start-finish straight, but Noguchi was just ahead to take the win by only 0.005s for another photo-finish.

Countryman Senna Agius was a non-finisher in race one, but bounced back for position nine in race two, while Benny Baker scored his first points with 14th on Saturday. He retired during the mid-stages of race two.

It’s now Noguchi who leads the championship standings by 25 over Van Eerde, whose next appearance will come in round one of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup at Jerez, Spain, between 5-6 May.