Former World Supersport Champion Chaz Davies has made the most of race day in Malaysia last Sunday 4^th of August by scoring win number eight of his WorldSBK career, after a last-turn thriller in race two. The Briton, sole standard-bearer for the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team in the tenth round of the year, was able to fight at the front in both encounters despite a not-so-prominent grid positioning.

Moving off from the last spot of row two, Davies battled hard with Jonathan Rea in Race 1, with the series leader eventual edging him out by 0.121s at the line by taking a wider line at the last turn and getting on the gas earlier.

“Race 1 went really well, especially considering where we were yesterday, when I was thinking we’d do well to finish top six” said the Welshman. “Anyway, we made some changes overnight that put us in a position to fight for the win, though we were still missing something in the last laps in terms of the grip and electronics working together.”

Determined not to let the same happen in race two after being overtaken at the penultimate corner, Davies got the inside of Rea entering the final turn as the two came together without crashing. An even-slimmer gap at the line (0.091s) saw Davies getting the better of the KRT rider, which denied Rea a pre-summer break title celebration and helped the Ducati rider elevating himself into second overall in the standings.

“In Race 2 I saw that Johnny was closing in and it took everything I had to hold him off. It was a battle to the line again, and through the last corner when we made contact I thought it was all over, but fortunately we both stayed upright and I was able to cross the line in front! I’m so pleased about Sunday’s results, obtained at one of the most difficult tracks for us. This shows how much progress we’ve made up until now. I’m also pleased to have moved into second place in the standings, having made up a lot of points over Tom this weekend. Thanks go to my whole team, the guys have done a fantastic job here! Now it’s time to relax, and after a good holiday we’ll get back to work.”