Rea fifth in Superbike standings

The Honda rider narrowly missed out on a podium place in the dramatic final lap of the second race, ending up fourth - just 0.13 seconds behind third-placed Tom Sykes.

Rea's seventh place in race one, together with the fourth place in race two, leaves him on 22 points.

7th and 4th today, not a great weekend for me and my team but I did by best. Judging by the others we have a lot of work to do!

— Jonathan Rea (@jonathanrea) February 26, 2012

There was disappointment for Toomebridge's Eugene Laverty though, as he was forced to retire three laps from the end of the first race and finished eighth in the second to take just eight points.

He was racing after recent spills which left him with injuries including a fractured hand and now sits 13th in the standings after round one.

My bike jumped out of gear in race 1 which forced me off track. Smoke was coming out of my ears between races! Salvaged 8th in race 2.

— Eugene Laverty (@eugenelaverty) February 27, 2012

Laverty's Aprilia teammate Max Biaggi leads the way on 45 points, after winning the first race and taking second place in race two at the Phillip Island circuit.

He is followed in the standings by BMW rider Marco Melandri on 30 points, Kawasaki's Tom Sykes on 29 points and Althea Racing's defending champion Carlos Checa on 25 points.

Round two of the World Superbike Championship will be held at Imola in Italy on 1 April.