FAI sponsored Chaz Davies has rocketed to a brilliant advantage after achieving podium spots in Race 1 and 2 of the 2017 World SBK championship. Both races at Phillip Island offered fans a thrilling battle that went down to the wire with Chaz only missing the win in race 2 by 25 thousandths of a second. Fellow Ducati team mate, Marco Melandri, was forced to retire in Race 1 after running off track while battling against an opponent but managed to bounce back by taking third place on Race 2.

Starting in 8th position due to the new grid regulations for Race 2, Davies rode a tactical race and climbed back progressively. Whilst managing to constantly pressure the winner Rea, both Ducati riders Davies and Melandri provisionally took the lead in a top group made of five riders before securing their podium positions.

After the first round in Australia, Chaz is second in the championship with 40 points and has gained new confidence for the rest of the season:

“Today’s race was a bit more difficult to manage, given the hotter conditions. The glass is half full though, without a doubt. We tried something different but we lost a couple of bike lengths here and there and we just couldn’t pass Rea before the finish line. When you look at the full picture, this is a really positive result. It would be easy to be disappointed because we barely missed two wins, but historically this has never been a favourite circuit for me and sometimes I lost precious points here, so two second places are a good building block for the rest of the season.”

The next round will be hosted at Chang International Circuit in Thailand between the 10^th – 12^th March so stay tuned to our social accounts for updates and news on Chaz’s progress.