Chaz Davies continued his sensational run of form with victory in race one at Jerez as Tom Sykes made a small dent in Jonathan Rea’s championship lead. Davies dominated on his way to a fourth win in five races since the summer break while Sykes’ second place moved him to within 40 points of his teammate with three races to go.
Saturday had begun in a similar fashion to many in this 2016 season as Sykes claimed his eighth pole position in twelve rounds with Rea completing a Kawasaki 1-2 on the grid. Davies had struggled for single lap pace once again, leaving him sixth on the grid, but the Welshman soon emerged as a threat when the race got underway.
Within two laps, Chaz had forced himself between the two championship contenders, diving past Rea at the Angel Nieto corner, and Sykes was unable to put up much resistance either with the Ducati man outbraking him into the final bend on lap four, earning Davies a lead that he would maintain until the chequered flag.
Sykes comfortably held off Rea for second with the Kawasaki duo spared a battle with the other Aruba Ducati thanks to front-row qualifier Davide Giugliano’s crash on lap two. Alex Lowes also had eyes on the rostrum but a crash at turn five ended his race early, leaving the two Hondas to dispute fourth place, Nicky Hayden narrowly pipping Michael van der Mark in the end.
Sylvain Guintoli gave Yamaha some consolation with sixth ahead of Leon Camier while Althea BMW duo Jordi Torres and Markus Reiterberger finished eighth and ninth, edging out the Milwaukee BMW of Josh Brookes.
WorldSBK 2016: Gaerne Spanish Round – Race One Result
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