GoldBet BMW’s Chaz Davies did not have the best of World Superbike weekends at the Istanbul Park circuit. The rider was plagued by grip and setup issues, and failed to be in contention for a podium finish, which had the Welshman wishing for a third race so he could find more track time to improve.

At the start of race one Davies improved from eighth to sixth. But a massive lack of grip meant he could not hold the position. Throughout the race he slipped back and crossed the finishing line in eighth.

In race two Davies had a better feeling on his RR. On lap sixteen he improved to fifth, but lost one position again on the final lap to come home in sixth, after losing out a place after a battle with Red Devils rider Toni Elias.

Davies missed a lot of track time over the weekend because of the mixed weather conditions and struggled to find a good setup with his BMW, particularly in race one. The Presteigne based rider was not happy, as he lost the front more than ten times during the race.

“After missing a lot of track time yesterday, it was difficult today. In the time available, we struggled to find a good setup. I was lacking grip on the front and the rear and also struggling with the stability and balance. I was not happy with race one. After warm-up, we made a small change to the balance to try and find more grip in the rear but it just made the front worse,” said Davies.

“It was so easy to lose the front; I think that happened to me ten to fifteen times throughout the race. I couldn’t enter the corner fast; every time I tried to use the front brake with any lean angle I would tuck the front and not only that but I also struggled with rear grip. I wasn’t able to do any better so that was very frustrating.

“I was much happier with race two which was definitely better. It was half the gap to the leaders than in race one but in the end it was not good enough. We really made a step in the right direction but we could not completely solve the issues we had in race one. I think a third race would have suited us today. I am not sure if I would have been in podium contention then but for sure we would have further improved and would come even closer.”