CHAZ Davies endured mixed fortune in the tenth round of the World Superbike Championship (WSBK) in Portugal last weekend.

The Presteigne star enjoyed a fine opening race at Portimao, claiming second place behind Kawasaki’s Jon Rea while Aruba.it Racing-Ducati team-mate Marco Melandri completed the podium.

Davies looked on course to repeat his podium finish in race two, climbing from eighth to second but he was forced to retire after crashing out at turn two with three laps remaining.

Davies said: “Second place in race one was the best we could hope for. Jon Rea has been on another level here so far, but I felt pretty confident about our pace going into the race.

“We got off to a good start, picking up five positions in the first few corners, but unfortunately I didn’t feel particularly comfortable from halfway point onwards.

“At that point I was still pulling away from Marco but not catching up with the front, so I just tried to play with my style a bit to see what I could learn for race two. We need to understand how to improve to get the best out of both myself and the package.” 

Davies could not hide his disappointment after crashing out on race two with just three laps remaining.

“We’ve missed an easy podium,” said Davies. “We were holding station with Rea without pushing over the top but I relaxed a little and closed the throttle earlier than usual going into turn two which ended up loading the front too much, and I went down.

“I was surprised because it’s a strange place to crash, especially when you feel like you’re cruising.”

Davies insisted his season was not over and would throw his focus into catching Tom Sykes in second place in the standings.

“We’ve closed in to second position in the championship, due to Tom’s own misfortune, and with him back we should have an interesting end to the season, so I’m looking forward to the next round.” 

After 10 rounds Davies sites on 296 points and third in the championship ahead of round 11 in Magny Cours at the end of the month.