Davies Crashes When Leading In Australia

Chaz Davies crashed out of the World Superbikes race in Australia while leading on Sunday.

The Knighton-born rider had just emerged from a mandatory stop to change tyres imposed by race chiefs amid fears of degradation following the first race.

But as he was trying to warm-up the fresh rubber, Davies at turn nine of lap 12 with his Ducati team-mate Marco Melandri going on to complete the double win.

The 30-year-old, who was third in Saturday’s opening race of the season at Phillip Island, said: “Honestly, I felt great and I thought we had some margin in the first half of the race.

“Then, after we changed tyres, I still thought we could go for the win.

“I think it was the first time I’ve ever pushed so hard on a completely new tyre as we never leave the pits and go from zero to 100 per cent like that.

“Maybe, we took it just a bit too far and made a mistake even though it was quite late in the corner when I lost the front.

“This year there will be plenty of riders capable of fighting for the podium like we’ve seen here so it’ll be interesting.

“We’ll regroup and be ready to go at Buriram.”

Melandri won by just 0.021secs in a thrilling photo-finish from reigning three-time champ Jonathan Rea to complete the double win.

Davies is seventh in the championship with 16 points – 34 points behind his Ducati team-mate with the next round in Thailand on March 23-25.