Chaz Davies claimed his seventh World Superbike victory at Aragon in six years after outlasting Jonathan Rea in a tense second race. The Welshman proved too strong for the reigning champion after both had battled through from the third row, moving him to within twelve points of the WorldSBK championship leader.
The battle for victory became a three-way dice between Rea, Davies and polesitter Marco Melandri but the title contenders only broke away from the field once Xavi Fores had crashed out midway through. The Barni Ducati rider threatened a home victory when he outbraked Melandri for the lead at the start of lap five but a crash at the final corner would soon end his afternoon.
Despite a clear deficit down the straights, Rea held onto the lead until five laps from home when Davies eased through. The world champion kept pace with the Aruba Ducati but it became clear on the final lap that he could do more than follow Davies, as proven when Rea skated wide at turn twelve. A poor final lap from Melandri let the Ulsterman off the hook with Rea retaining second while Melandri failed to convert pole into victory for the second day in a row.
Alex Lowes pipped Yamaha team-mate Michael van der Mark for fourth while Tom Sykes recovered from a disastrous start to finish sixth, overhauling debutant Michael Ruben Rinaldi on the final lap. Jordi Torres was eighth ahead of another impressive rookie in Toprak Razgatlioglu with Lorenzo Savadori completing the top ten for Aprilia.
WorldSBK 2018: Spanish Round: Race Two
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