Italian veteran Marco Melandri has pipped defending world champion Jonathan Rea by just 0.021 of a second to complete a sweep of the Superbike World Championship opening round at Phillip Island.
The oldest rider in the field at 35, Melandri had already produced a masterclass on Saturday to take the opening race win.
And the Ducati rider ensured he departed Australia with a maximum 50 points to start the season by edging past Rea’s Kawasaki in a drag race the line to win by less than a wheel length in race two on Sunday.
Impressive Spaniard Xavi Fores (Ducati) was third.
Seven different riders held the lead across the 22 laps, which featured a compulsory pit stop between laps 10 and 12, and the top seven finishers were split by less than three seconds.
“It was a really crazy race and really difficult to make a plan for the last lap,” said Melandri.
“With three or four laps to go I found my speed and rhythm, but then Rea was amazing on the brakes at turn one on the last lap, and very smart at turn two, so I then had to make a revised plan to get past him.”
Rea, who is aiming to win a fourth successive world title, was relieved to finish on the podium after a disappointing fifth place in race one.
“In one sense I am happy to survive here,” said Rea who had been battling the flu.
“My last two weeks have been crazy. I had surgery two weeks ago on my finger, I had two huge crashes in testing last week, and I’ve been sick since Wednesday – so it was probably the worst preparation I’ve ever had for a first round.”
Melandri leads the championship from Britain’s Tom Sykes (33), then Rea (31) and Fores (29).