Davies ends season with double podium

The Mid Wales star secured to second-place finish during an action-packed final round to cement his place as one of the world’s finest racers.

Davies, 32, from Presteigne, began the weekend by carving through the field on Saturday for his first podium before just missing out on a win following a three-rider battle with champion and double-race winner, Jonathan Rea, and his Aruba.it Racing-Ducati team-mate, Álvaro Bautista.

The first race at the Losail International Circuit had seen Davies rise from 12th on the grid to after starting from the fourth row.

The Welshman eventually crossed the line at the end of the opening lap in fourth and then kept up his excellent pace, finishing just a couple of seconds behind Kawasaki rider Rea.

Davies said: “It was a really good race actually, much better than expectations, especially after Superpole which was a bad showing because I just wasn’t able to get the best out of the fresh rear tyre.

“In the race, I got a good start into the first corner and then the rest was just solid.

“I had really good pace, I was smooth and clean, trying to get a 10th of a second here and there and see if I could be in the mix with Jonathan come the end of the race. Unfortunately, I just used that little bit extra more tyre to keep me in the fight in the final stages.”

Bautista was on the pace for Sunday’s second race – having second in the early points-scoring Superpole race, with Davies in fifth – who slotted in behind Rea. But after taking the lead on lap eighth on his Panigale V4 R, the Spanish rider suffered excessive rear tyre drop and started to lose ground.

Davies, following a bad start, recovered several positions and then caught and passed his team-mate to take the chequered flag in second place. “It’s been a strong end to the season for me and I’m really happy to finish on the podium again,” said Davies.

“I felt like I put together another good race this evening after a bad start but it was good fun to battle with the others in the early laps.

“I got into a good pace and started charging towards the guys up front.

“After I passed Álvaro, it was quite easy to follow Johnny but then when I pushed a bit more, I was in trouble with the front tyre.

“All in all, it was a good finish to 2019 and I can’t wait for 2020 to start.” The Qatar round brought to an end the new Panigale V4 R’s debut campaign in the World Superbike series to an end. The new bike accumulated a total of 17 wins in 37 races, 16 of which with Bautista and one Davies.

The Spaniard finished the championship as runner-up with 498 points, while Davies’ fine performances during the final round saw him rise from seventh in the standings to sixth on 294 points. The Italian squad will next be out on track at Aragon, in Spain, for early-season testing on November 13-14.

It mark the first time newly-signed Scott Redding – the reigning British Suoergike champion – has teamed up Davies.

The team will then return to the track again at Jerez, also in Spain, November 28-29.