Chaz Davies dominated both World Superbike races at Motorland Aragon this weekend in Spain. Starting from fourth on the grid, the factory Ducati rider outdistanced championship points-leader Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki teammate Tom Sykes on Saturday; Rea and Sykes swapped spots on Sunday. Margin of victory in race one was 4.168 seconds and 6.471 in race two
“This weekend feels like a dream,” Davies said. “The bike was competitive from the get-go, and we only made small tweaks. The technical upgrades brought here have given us what we needed. In Thailand, I could only stay in the slipstream, while here I’ve been able to pass my opponents also on the straight.”
Davies also doubled last July at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, which will serve this year as round nine of the series and be held in conjunction at the Central California circuit with round eight of the MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship. The Welshman is currently second in the championship standings, 26 points behind Rea.
“It was a difficult race,” Rea said about Sunday’s event. “Straight from the off, we did not have so much grip in the rear. When I backshifted going into turn one with a few laps to go, the rear locked and I could not stop. That was end of the chance to fight for second position today.”
Sykes offered a more philosophical viewpoint. “We cannot be downbeat because sometimes it happens that you have a circuit that is great for a certain package, and Chaz is always on form here.”
Americans Nicky Hayden and PJ Jacobsen endured a difficult weekend in their respective Superbike and Supersport classes. After finishing a distant sixth from the 10th starting position on Saturday (“I had too big a drop off in grip”), Hayden wasn’t competitive on Sunday.
After the race, Kentuckian didn’t mince words. “It was a bad day,” he said. “There is not much else to say. Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. On the sighting lap, we started having some problems and on the warm-up lap, again, I could feel something was still not right.
“We had a big vibration at the front end, and I could not get my bike stopped. I tried to stay out to salvage some points, but there was not much I could do. Eventually, it got worse, so I chose not to take any unnecessary risks and pulled out of the race.”
After starting from fourth on the grid, 22-year-old Jacobsen barrel-rolled his CBR600RR in turn two attempting to capture the race lead from four-time and defending World Supersport Champion Kenan Sofuoglu, who celebrated his race win with a spectacular stand-up wheelie. This is the first DNF of the season for Jacobsen, who is now fifth overall in series points.
“I’m really sorry for what happened in the race today,” Jacobsen said. “I was trying to get an early lead just like in Thailand, but I pushed too much and crashed. It’s a shame because I felt I had what it takes to fight for the podium. I just need to move on now, refocus, and make sure I’ll be ready for Assen.”
Chaz Davies Dominates, Americans Suffer Disappointments
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