Davies In Damage Limitation Mode After Thai Tumble

Chaz Davies salvaged a points finish after sliding out of victory contention in the World Superbikes race in Thailand on Sunday.

The Knighton-born rider was set for a scrap for the win with reigning champ Jonathan Rea when he hit the tarmac on his Ducati on the third lap.

Davies managed to get back on his bike but had slipped to the back of the field when the race was red flagged when Lorenzo Savadori crashed.

The 30-year-old blasted up from 19th to 11th at the start of the reduced 16-lap race and eventually finished sixth.

Davies held onto second place in the championship but his deficit to Rea is now 30 points after the Ulsterman made it four straight wins.

Rea won the restarted race by just over four seconds from Kawasaki team-mate Tom Sykes who once again snatched a place from Marco Melandri on the final lap.

Davies said: “I was following Marco but I misjudged his speed a little bit so I went to the outside.

“For me the rear always locks there, but that time it did it more than usual, perhaps because I was on a dirty part of the track, and couldn’t recover the grip.

“Finishing sixth is a salvage after the crash, but we could have been close to the podium at the restart.

“Unfortunately, we had some issues with the throttle after some parts were changed for safety.

“Still, we have many more points than after two rounds last year, and now we’ll go to more favorable tracks. The championship is long.”

Davies’ start to the season – he finished second to Rea in the opening double header in Australia and in Saturday’s first race in Thailand – is still better than last year.

Then he finished second and 10th in Australia and fourth and third on the Chang International Circuit.

And the next round at Aragon in Spain from March 31st- April 1st is where he swept to the first two of his record 11 wins last season.