Image: Supplied.

Reigning champion Jonathan Rea rode to a 17th race win this season in the Qatar round of the 2018 Motul Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK), matching Doug Polen for the most victories in a single season.

Kawasaki Racing Team’s Rea was absolutely untouchable at the Losail Circuit, getting the holeshot at the lights and never relinquishing the race lead.

Tom Sykes completed a KRT one-two, with Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) getting the better of Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) for third position after a race-long battle.

Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team) followed the front quartet with a confident race all the way to the final lap, but late issues pushed him down to 13th to the benefit of Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing Ducati). The Italian takes fifth position and will start his last race for the Borgo Panigale squad from the front row of the grid.

The last two laps at Losail saw one of the wildest battles of the season, as Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing Ducati), Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) and Loris Baz (Gulf Althea BMW Racing Team) raced side-by-side for that final front row spot.

The Frenchman was triumphant in this war, taking sixth position with the Yamaha in seventh, while Davies nearly lost eighth position on the final straight to Jake Gagne (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) in ninth. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) closed the top 10.

Lucas Mahias (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) has taken the final Supersport World Championship Superpole of 2018 with a record lap of 2m00.461s around Losail The Frenchman was unmatchable around the Qatar circuit and will head into Saturday alongside the two title contenders, as Sandro Cortese (Kallio Racing) and Jules Cluzel (NRT) complete the front row in second and third.

Separated by just five points in the standings, both men headed out onto the Losail tarmac knowing that whoever wins the race tomorrow will also take the title. The competitiveness was apparent right from the get-go, with Cortese’s first lap only four thousandths of a second faster the Cluzel’s. However, both men were quickly surpassed by the 2017 champion, who has introduced himself into the championship equation.

That didn’t change in the final minutes of qualifying, with a confident Mahias claiming pole despite Cortese’s best efforts, with the German finishing 0.149s seconds behind.

Cluzel finished third and a whole four tenths behind his championship rival,and knowing that even a reversal of their positions in tomorrow’s race would not be enough to claim the title if his countryman remains ahead.

Detailed results