Improvement are still needing to be made for Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) around Chang International Circuit, however he remains positive and looks to the future with the 20 points he claimed in the searing Asian heat on Saturday.

Starting the race from fifth position on the grid following a small crash during Superpole Two which hindered the Welshman, he was able to get a strong start off the line and was up and fighting in the leading group in the opening laps. Duelling with team-mate Marco Melandri, he soon made his pass and began to hunt down leader Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team).

However his push was to no avail and he was unable to catch the flying Rea to fight for the lead. Despite this, he will go back and see what updates he can make ahead of Race two at the Destination of Speed.

 Davies explains: “Looking at the big picture I’m pleased with today’s performance, but I wanted to win. This morning I thought we might be close, but by the end our pace is just not good enough. Especially at the beginning of the race, I can’t push the bike to that level, but not only that I got shuffled in a little bit behind and struggled to pass. I think there are a number of things we need to look at. Who knows if it’s something we can turn around overnight, but it’s going to be a little bit tough.”

Discussing his fight to get his hands on those all important 20 points, Davies continues: “In the late laps I was good enough to recover to get second, but not without a struggle. It wasn’t really a fantastic feeling out there. I felt like I was losing in the first and second section which is a little bit of a surprise to me, but we’ll have to see what went wrong and draw on more tomorrow. Starting eighth tomorrow is going to make it even more difficult or more interesting”

Tackling another third row start under the Race 2 reshuffling regulations for 2017, Davies will line up on the grid ahead of the race start at 16:00LT.