Aruba Ducati’s Chaz Davies again demolished the opposition at Motorland Aragon, taking the second World Superbike race easily with a six-second advantage over former champion Tom Sykes.
Davies made short work of the two Kawasaki man on his charge from the second row of the grid, passing reigning champion Jonathan Rea on lap one and then going under Sykes at the end of lap two with the sort of pass you would put on a backmarker into the last corner.
The Welshman promptly cleared off with occasionally a second a lap in hand to take the 25 points and leapfrog Skyes for second in the championship, closing down Rea’s advantage to 30 points in the process.
Rea, meanwhile, stalked Sykes for second until the Huddersfield man ran wide with nine laps to go. Sykes wasn’t done however and an uncharacteristic mistake from Rea at turn one caused by an errant engine braking setting saw Sykes snatch back second place as Rea ran on to the Astroturf. He rejoined too far back to have any hope of reclaiming the position as his rear tyre was shot.
Barni Ducati’s Xavi Fores equalled his best ever result from yesterday with another fourth place after passing the factory Ducati of Davide Giuglaino and leaving him in his wake while Jordi Torres again woke up halfway through and charged up to fifth place.
Giugliano faded mid-race and then had a gearbox problem which saw him drop back to sixth while Michael Van Der Mark was again at the sharp end early doors but slipped backwards to seventh.
Alex De Angelis ended his day in eighth and but was being caught hand over fist by Alex Lowes’ Pata Yamaha. The Derby-based rider made a error in the early laps and ran off track, re-joining in 19th place.
He then set about clawing his way back up the results sheet, eventually passing team-mate Sylvain Guintoli as the chequered flag was being prepared. Guintoli completed the top ten.
Lorenzo Savadori brought his RSV4 home in 11th, just ahead of Roman Ramos’s GoEleven Kawasaki.
Reigning British Superbike Champion Josh Brookes made some major changes to his Milwauke BMW overnight as was able to lap some three seconds quicker than he did in free practice three. The Australian ended in 13th, one ahead of team-mate Karel Abraham with Markus Reiterberger in 15th.
Leon Camier’s MV Agusta underwent another engine change overnight and the Briton was not confident if it would last the distance today. However, he brought it home in 17th place. Nicky Hayden retired with three laps left.