Phillip Island WSBK: Rea again outduels Davies in Race 2

As a result of the new regulations introduced for 2017, Rea started the race from ninth but the Northern Irishman was up to fifth after Lap 1, just ahead of Chaz Davies.

The duo continued their rapid progress, with Rea taking the lead from Xavi Fores on Lap 6.

However, he couldn't pull away and was soon passed by Davies, the duo running in the lead group that also consisted of pole-sitter Alex Lowes, Marco Melandri and Xavi Fores.

Following a couple of changes at the top, it was Melandri staying in the lead for several laps in a row.

However, he came under increasing pressure from Rea as the final three laps approached, and was eventually passed by the defending champion, as well as Davies, Lowes and Fores over the course of a single lap.

Davies then took the lead on the penultimate lap and Rea's immediate counterattack was compromised due to Lowes temporarily passing him as well.

However, the Northern Irishman made a late overtake at the end of the main straight and held off the charging Davies to win by just 0.025s, making it an even closer finish than yesterday.

Melandri fought back to take third, with Lowes narrowly missing out on a podium finish for the second race in a row.

Fores lost some ground during the final two laps to settle for fifth, with Tom Sykes, unable to keep up with the leaders, ending up sixth.

Yamaha's Michael van der Mark was seventh, followed by front-row starter Leon Camier and Aprilia duo Lorenzo Savadori and Eugene Laverty.

Honda completed a low-key first weekend withits new Fireblade, with Stefan Bradl taking 15th and Nicky Hayden retiring.

Jordi Torres, who was set to start fourth, was forced to pull over his BMW bike during the warm-up lap due to technical issues.

Race 2 results

Cla	Driver	Bike	Gap
1	Jonathan Rea	Kawasaki
2	Chaz Davies	Ducati	0.025
3	Marco Melandri	Ducati	0.249
4	Alex Lowes	Yamaha	0.956
5	Xavi Forés	Ducati	2.320
6	Tom Sykes	Kawasaki	4.781
7	Michael van der Mark	Yamaha	7.307
8	Leon Camier	MV Agusta	9.756
9	Lorenzo Savadori	Aprilia	11.135
10	Eugene Laverty	Aprilia	20.123
11	Alex de Angelis	Kawasaki	25.799
12	Josh Brookes	Yamaha	25.879
13	Markus Reiterberger	BMW	25.917
14	Roman Ramos	Kawasaki	26.292
15	Stefan Bradl	Honda	28.440
16	Randy Krummenacher	Kawasaki	33.679
17	Ondrej Jezek	Kawasaki	1 lap
	Nicky Hayden	Honda	14 laps
	Ayrton Badovini	Kawasaki	15 laps
	Riccardo Russo	Yamaha	20 laps
	Jordi Torres	BMW	22 laps