Davies hampered by tyre, power issues

Chaz Davies says a tyre issue in race one and a technical problem in race two prevented him from showing his true form on his Ducati WSBK debut at Phillip Island.

The Welshman, who made the switch to the factory-assisted Ducati team from BMW over the winter, endured a fairly difficult first weekend with the team, being out-qualified by Niccolo Canepa on the EVO 1199 after receiving a bad tyre in Superpole before hitting problems in the races too.

In terms of raw speed, Davies was pleased with his efforts, setting the fastest lap in race one before slipping back to a lonely eighth as his rear tyre faded. He was similarly quick in the early stages of race two, but a loss of power saw him drop to seventh when the race was halted early.

With this in mind, Davies was 'disappointed' with the results, but otherwise encouraged by his pace.

"I am a little disappointed in terms of race results. In race one we had a rear tyre issue and I gradually lost grip from maybe the mid-race point. Race two was a little better, I was hanging in there with the front group, managing to edge my way up through the field to about fifth. Then at about lap 10 I felt like I lost power and so I slowed down because I didn't know what was happening. It was a shame as I think we were in for a better result in race two.

"I felt more comfortable, with the team having made some changes between the first and second races. Anyway, there are positives to take away from the weekend. Solid points in each race for example - it's the first time I've scored points in both Superbike races at Phillip Island.

"I also made the fastest lap of race one. But I know we're capable of more, everyone's working hard and the bike is feeling good. Roll on Aragon."