Leon Haslam ended his 2015 season in the best possible way as the Aprilia rider snatched victory from Chaz Davies in the second World Superbikes race at Qatar after a race-long battle.

Just like he did in the opening race at Losail, Jonathan Rea took the lead into turn one from the start with Kawasaki team-mate Tom Sykes slotting in behind along with Davies and Haslam and it didn’t take long for Davies to get his Ducati past Sykes as the Welshman began to pressurise Rea.

Davies took the lead not long after, passing the champion into turn one as Leon Haslam edged his way up to third. As the contest raged between the Ducati and Kawasaki, Haslam kept it smooth in third while behind him Tom Sykes had to fend off the attentions of race one winner Jordi Torres on the other Aprilia.

The battle involving Rea and Davies looked like it was turning into a decent scrap, but Haslam was forcing his way into the action courtesy of the monstrous raw speed of the RSV4 and at the start of lap five he swooped inside Rea at turn one but was quickly usurped by Davies.

A tussle was forming among the trio, but at the end of the lap disaster struck for Rea as he brought the ZX-10R into the pits with what looked like an engine issue and with it went his hopes of becoming the all-time record points scorer in World Superbike, with the Ulsterman a tantalising five points away from beating Colin Edwards’ record of 552.

From there on in, Davies looked in control with his Panigale leading the way for a number of the 17 race laps but each time the leaders went down the front straight at Losail, Haslam’s superior speed was giving him the advantage every time although the Derbyshire rider was struggling to get the bike stopped and turned in on time.

This scenario went on for the majority of the second half of the race, as Haslam held onto the coattails of Davies, only to overtake him on the start/finish line before facing a battle to get the brakes on for turn one but it produced a fascinating topsy-turvy race between the pair.

In third, Tom Sykes was in close attendance once Rea dropped out although the Yorkshireman had Jordi Torres to deal with behind him, as well as concentrating on trying to close down the leading duo.

As the laps passed, Davies and Haslam continued to scrap with one another and with seven laps remaining Haslam seemed to get a move to stick but Davies bided his time and at turn six re-passed the Aprilia down the inside.

Haslam again flew past Davies on the straight in the very next lap but going wide into turn one allowed the Aruba.it Ducati rider to regain top spot, which he did a good job of holding onto tightly until the final couple of laps.

With Jordi Torres crashing out two laps from the end, it left Sykes the only man near Haslam and Davies but the Kawasaki rider - although close - failed to make any type of attempt at passing either rider.

In the end Leon Haslam showed superb tenacity to keep fighting with Davies on the last lap, as the Aprilia rider ran extremely wide on turn one yet again but held firm in his pursuit of the Ducati and on the very last corner the 32-year-old was rewarded.

Chasing his British counterpart hard towards the end of the lap, Haslam’s pressure forced Davies into out-braking himself on the final turn, which allowed the Aprilia rider to get through on the exit and blast the rapid RSV4 onwards to a memorable victory under the floodlights in Qatar.

It was Haslam’s second World Superbike victory of the season and, with no factory-backed Aprilia team in the series next season, gives him plenty of confidence as he seeks a new team for the 2016 season.