Rain And Red Flags Hamper Davies In Final Test

Chaz Davies was left frustrated by rain and red flags on the first day of the final World Superbikes pre-season test in Australia.

The Knighton-born rider – one of the favourites for the title after his storming finish to 2016 – finished eighth fastest on the Phillip Island track.

Davies has one more test day on Tuesday before the 13-round, 26-race season starts at the track near Melbourne with opening practice on Friday.

The 30-year-old admitted: “We didn’t really get a chance to get going today.

“Every time we went out on track, we could only do runs of 2-3 laps before the rain started to fall again.

“In the last 20 minutes we were trying to make a setup change but it took a bit longer than expected and, with the red flags, we didn’t get a chance to improve our position.

“That said, we know that our package is solid, and considering the lack of track time we can be satisfied with our performance.”

Davies managed just 21 laps on his aruba.it Racing Ducati clocking a best time of one minute 32.723 secs.

The day was frustrating for all riders with frequent showers, strong winds and coolish temperatures though the forecast is better for Tuesday.

But he should be full of confidence for the season ahead having won the last six races and seven of the final eight last season.

New team-mate Marco Melandri finished third fastest – 1:32.216 – after clocking up 37 laps.

The Italian said: “The times are destined to drop quite significantly, so they’re not particularly indicative.

“At any rate, we found a couple of interesting solutions for the future, and we’ll start from there tomorrow.”