Davies coasts home for first Ducati win
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Chaz Davies capped his best weekend to date with Ducati by comfortably winning the second World Superbike race at Aragon while Tom Sykes spectacularly crashed out of a top-four spot.
At the circuit which saw him claim his maiden double victory in the class, Davies was never headed after assuming control at the first corner. In the end he coasted home a full four seconds clear of Jonathan Rea, who narrowly held off Leon Haslam for his sixth straight top-two finish.
As the top three staked their respective claims for the championship it was a nightmare end to the weekend for Sykes, who suffered a massive high-side while holding fourth and closing in on Haslam.
The 2013 world champion had started poorly and lost early ground to Rea and the number one Aprilia as they tried in vain to stay with Davies. By the end of the second lap they were over half a second in arrears of the Welshman who was clearly benefiting from slight set-up changes between races.
The hotter temperatures in race two were also aiding Haslam's quest to finish closer to the front. Determined to limit Rea's prowess on a circuit at which he's never favoured, he stuck resolutely to within half a second of the Kawasaki until the flag. A small gearing issue prevented him from making up enough ground on the back straight to attempt a move.
Behind Jordi Torres rode to a lonely fourth place, over ten seconds behind his team-mate and five ahead of countryman Xavi Fores. Davide Giugliano's stand-in rider ended his debut with the Aruba.it Ducati team with a pair of solid top-six showings.
With the battle for the lead lacking in drama it was left to David Salom, Tati Mercado, Michael van der Mark, Ayrton Badovini and Nico Terol to put on a show for the Spanish spectators.
In the end Salom won out as less than three seconds covered the five riders. Terol had looked a good bet for his best finish in the class to date but a mistake at turn one forced him off track at the half-way stage.
Further down the order Voltcom Crescent Suzuki's frustrations continued as Alex Lowes was forced off track on the first lap. To his credit the Englishman rejoined at the back of the pack and recovered to finish 14th, a place behind team-mate Randy de Puniet.
Reining world champion Sylvain Guintoli uncharacteristically crashed out of a point scoring finish on lap six. Incredibly it was the Frenchman's first DNF in 43 races.
