Chaz Davies‘ chances of finding a ride next year went up a notch yesterday when he won race 2 at Nurburgring, taking his tally up to three this season.
BMW will no longer be taking part in World Superbikes championship, and it was Davies that gave the manufacturer their first and only victory on their home turf, after Marco Melandri‘s expectations of giving his team their first win was scuttled by a red flag in race 1 and with the countback gave him a second place, while Davies took third place.
Another oil spill (from Smrz’ Yamaha R1) and another red flag just before the final lap in race 2 gave Davies the win, just as Melandri and Eugene Laverty were initiating their final moves on the leader of the race.
“I am obviously super happy with the victory in race two, said Davies.
“I was already happy with my podium in race one but I knew we could improve and so we did.
In race one, I made the start I was hoping for coming from the second row of the grid and I was racing in the leading group with Marco and Tom.
“In the early stages, Tom put some really good pace at the front.
Generally, the bike was working really well as it has done all weekend.
We were just slightly struggling in a couple of areas which cost me a bit on acceleration but we worked on that for race two.
“We definitely made a step in the right direction.
I felt that my RR was a little bit better in certain areas of the track.
It was still hard to brake but I tried all I could do to build a bit of a gap.
It was a good battle with Eugene and Marco.
The last couple of laps I just put my head down seeing if I could just get away from the guys fighting behind me.
I was thinking that there couldn’t be another red flag but just in case I tried to stay in the lead.
In the end the red flag came and I was in right place at the right time.
A big thank you to my team, they did a great job this weekend and we got a double podium again.
“Two red flags gave Marco Melandri a second and third place at Nurburgring, but they may have made his hopes in making a play for the title just a little more difficult – he is third in the standings and 30 points from leader Tom Sykes, after he was contesting for the victory in both races.
In race 1 Melandri had just taken the lead from Tom Sykes when the red flags were shown, and in race 2 was riding in third behind his team mate and Eugene Laverty and was beginning to size up the riders in front of him for a very heated finale when once again the red flags appeared.
“I’ve never seen a red flag at the end of both races in my life,” said Melandri.
“It was a shame because in race one I was leading and race two I was third but I am sure that it would have been a great final lap because all three of us were trying to win and everyone was pushing hard.
“The red flag was not on my side today and as a consequence I had no chance to make use of the opportunities we had and this is frustrating, but these are the rules.
I am so sorry for the guys that crashed and got injured because they had much more bad luck than me.
All the best and a speedy recovery to all of them! “For sure I can be happy because we have shown that we are strong but at the same time I am disappointed because I did not get as many points as I could have.
The championship is still very open and I have reduced the gap to the front.
“So in general it was a good weekend for us and we are looking forward to the next rounds.
Now we are going to tracks that I really like and I am sure that today’s disappointment will only give me even more motivation.
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