Welshman Davies gave a dominant display in Saturday’s opening race at the German venue, taking the lead on lap two and pulling away to take the win from Rea and Sykes.
For Sunday’s reverse grid race, Davies was forced to work hard for his win. Team-mate Marco Melandri set the pace in the opening laps, with Rea taking over the lead on lap five. Davies moved through on the 11th of the 21 lap race and pulled away to take the win by over two seconds. In doing so, he became the final world superbike race winner around the unloved East German circuit, which is being redeveloped as a test track for autonomous vehicles later this year.
“It was a great race and I loved every minute of it,” said Davies “It was different from yesterday though, as we had to work our way up from third row on the grid. We had a good start and in the first couple of laps we were within sight of the lead, so when I saw Rea making his move I tried to hunt down him and Marco. It wasn’t easy to pass them, but then I just tried to set my own pace, ride clean, and not make mistakes. I was surprised by our rhythm today in the high 1:36 mark, we definitely improved since the tests here a month ago, and it shows the effort everyone is putting in. I’m confident going into Portimão, but we’ll enjoy this double for now and get prepared for another battle.”
For Carole Nash ambassador Rea, the German round marked another step towards what would be a record breaking third world title in a row, an achievement not even Carl Fogarty could achieve, as he extended his advantage over Sykes, who finished fourth in race two, to 70 points with four race weekends remaining.
Speaking after the race, Rea said: “Chaz was really solid in race two and his pace was good. When I had really good grip in the beginning I felt strong on the bike but as soon as I started to lose entry-traction the bike became very physical to ride. I was manhandling the bike and this is such a bumpy track. Yesterday’s race started to take its toll a little bit also. I had no big moments but I just tried to rein it in a little bit and I saw that my gap behind to Marco was just moving forward, tenth by tenth, so it was about consolidation at the end. When I lost the edge grip it was just not possible to stay in front but I did try. I am happy with the results from this weekend as the bike has never really worked that well here and we were on the back foot on Friday. So to make the set-up changes we did, and make some big steps, I am really happy with the team – so thanks to them. We came away with 40 points, from Lausitzring, which I am satisfied with.”
It was a mixed weekend for Carole Nash’s British Superbike championship ambassador Leon Haslam, who won the day’s opening race at Cadwell Park but crashed out of the second. Leon remains second in the points standing and looks likely to qualify for the title-deciding ‘showdown’ which sees the championship won or lost over the last three race weekends.
Only the top six riders after the next round, held at Silverstone on 9-10 September, will be able to fight it out for the title and Haslam remains well placed in second despite his race two mishap. With defending champion Shane Byrne also failing to score, in his case due to a mechanical issue, and long time points leader Luke Mossey out through injury, no rider has mathematically qualified for the showdown yet. It would be a major surprise if Byrne, Haslam and Peter Hickman, who took a fourth and a third place finish at his local circuit, aren’t in the top six but just 25 points cover the riders from fourth to eighth. James Ellison won the second race at Cadwell Park and is the only other rider with a mathematical shot at the title. He lies 42 points off sixth placed Mossey, with 75 points on offer at Silverstone.
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