Aruba Ducati’s Chaz Davies could only muster an 11th place grid slot for tomorrow’s two Misano World Superbike races as a gear sensor problem slowed the Welshman’s progress in Superpole.

But Davies has made some progress with the front-end of his Panigale which has caused him the most difficult so far this season. The Presteigne man will have to get his elbows out to get through traffic from the fourth row.

“Unfortunately we had a problem with the gear sensor in the Superpole, something that already affected my laps on the race tyre and then became worse with the qualifying tyre. There is no time to solve any issues during such a short session and so the result is disappointing,” said Davies.

“It’s a shame because the front of the bike seemed a bit better in this session. We’ve obviously got work to do tomorrow. I need to focus on making a fast start and then positioning myself well through the first laps to see what I can do, but it’s not going to be easy from the fourth row.”