Chaz Davies became the first rider for ten years to claim three double victories in succession but his eleventh win of the season wasn’t quite enough to earn him the championship runner-up spot. The Welshman held off Jonathan Rea in a ten lap sprint but the Ulsterman relinquished second place to his team-mate Tom Sykes on the final lap, ensuring the Yorkshireman would complete a Kawasaki championship 1-2.
Sykes took a seven point lead over Davies into the final race of the season but the Ducati rider was quickest off the start line, leading Rea, Sylvain Guintoli and Sykes. Rea’s race looked to have been destroyed when a mistake at turn one relegated him to thirteenth but Saeed Al Sulaiti’s Kawasaki suffered a spectacular engine blow-up on lap eight, spilling oil and causing a red flag for safety reasons.
As a result, the race was neutralised and a ten lap restart was called. This was bad news for Sykes who held a safe second prior to the stoppage, a result which would’ve secured him the runner-up spot, but good news for Nicky Hayden who was forced to start the initial race from the pitlane after exceeding his engine allocation for the year.
Hayden got to start the re-run from fifteenth on the grid but Davies was way out of reach, converting pole position into the lead while Sykes came under pressure from a rampant Rea. The two-time champion muscled past on lap five but when it became clear he wouldn’t catch Davies, Jonathan eased off to let Sykes through in an act of sportsmanship and team unity.
Guintoli took fourth in his last race for PATA Yamaha while Leon Haslam finished a magnificent fifth for Pedercini Kawasaki. Jordi Torres was sixth while Hayden recovered from his pre-race penalty to finish seventh ahead of Xavi Fores, Raffaele De Rosa and Alex Lowes.
WorldSBK 2016: Gaerne Qatar Round – Race Two Result
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