CHAZ Davies was content with two fourth placed finishes at Portimao last weekend.

Davies guided his Aruba.it Racing-Ducati to fourth in both races in the tenth round of the World Superbike Championships (WSBK) in Portugal.

Despite failing to end on the podium and all but end his hopes of challenging Jon Rea of Kawasaki for the title the Presteigne ace was content with his weekend’s work having battled back from 15th place to fourth despite a shoulder injury.

Davies said: “I had a great start to the opening race then it came up on me a little bit.

“There was a bit of pushing in turn one so I stayed cautious and held the inside line which paid off.

“The first corners were crucial and I came out in sixth place but we struggled with turning a little bit.

“In the last five laps I took it a little bit easier physically knowing that I could just hold position.

“Overall I’m really, really happy. The feeling on the bike keeps getting better after each session.

“I was hoping for a top eight so to come away with fourth was much better than what I expected.”

Davies led the second race for 11 laps before ending fourth in searing temperatures.

Davies said: “This was one of the most challenging rounds in my career.

“Portimão is one of the most physical tracks on the calendar and I haven’t been able to train properly for a long time, not to mention the pain in the right shoulder.

“Honestly, if somebody would have told me that I would get two fourth placed finishes I wouldn’t have believed it.”

As ever Davies heaped praise on his technical crew for further improving his machine and looked ahead to the rest of the season.

“The guys have made strides with the package through the weekend and we ended up actually quite close to the winners.

“Now we have got a few days to train and rehabilitate ahead of Magny Cours to kickstart the final part of the season.

“I’m looking forward to the next race.”