---
title: "Davies doubles up in Spain as title battle rolls on"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2016/10/16/davies-doubles-spain-title-battle-rolls/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Lewis Duncan"
section: "SBK"
published: "2016-10-16T12:06:03Z"
modified: "2016-10-16T12:06:03Z"
---

# Davies doubles up in Spain as title battle rolls on

Aruba.it Ducati’s Chaz Davies made it back-to-back doubles in the 2016 as he dominated race two at Jerez for his ninth win of the season, whilst Tom Sykes denied Kawasaki teammate Jonathan Rea the chance to win the title today.

Davies wasted no time at the start of today’s 20-lap contest, rising from sixth to first in the space of six corners. Running the softer front Pirelli tyre, the Welshman made sure to maximise his grip advantage early on and immediately started to check out.

Behind, Sykes got the jump on Rea off the line, the Northern Irishman shuffled back to third by the end of the first lap with Honda’s Nicky Hayden making a much better start today in fourth.

Thus began a game of cat and mouse between the KRT duo, Rea quick enough to challenge Sykes but unable to find a way past. This continued right through to lap 10, when the reigning champion scythed his way past at Turn 5. By this time, Davies was several seconds up the road and on course for victory.

Rea was unable to drop Sykes, and even if he could it would still see the championship roll on to the Qatar round in two weeks. So the Northern Irishman began slowing up Sykes in order to bring Hayden into the mix, the American gradually closing the gap to the KRT bikes over the course of the final eight laps.

With a lap to go, the Honda rider was just four tenths adrift of Sykes but couldn’t get close enough to challenge, whilst the Yorkshireman tried his hardest to retake second from his teammate. Sykes clung on to Rea’s back wheel through the final sequence of corners, but couldn’t get past.

With Rea second and Sykes completing the podium, the gap between the pair stands at 48 points in the Northern Irishman’s favour with just 50 more up for grabs at the Losail International Circuit at the end of the month.

Up front, Davies did not put a foot wrong and cruised across the line with seven seconds in hand to equal the tally of wins of championship leader Rea in 2016. The Ducati rider now lies just 19 points away from second-placed Sykes in the standings.

Pata Yamaha’s Sylvain Guintoli held off the second Ten Kate Honda of Michel van der Mark to take a strong fifth, whilst teammate Alex Lowes made up for yesterday’s crash with a decent seventh. Jordi Torres carved his way through to eighth on his Althea BMW, with Ant West and Lorenzo Savadori completing the top 10.

Roman Ramos crossed the line 11th, while Josh Brookes capped off a good weekend for the Milwaukee BMW team in 12th ahead of a struggling Davide Giugliano. Markus Reiterberger and Gianluca Vizziello were the last of the points scorers.

Saeed Al Sulaiti will be hoping for much better fortunes at his home two weeks from now after crashing out yet again at Jerez. He joined Alex De Angelis, Leon Camier and Peter Sebestyen in the Spanish track’s gravel traps, whilst Xavi Fores was unfortunately forced to park up with a mechanical problem on lap nine.

![2016-10-16-2](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2016/10/2016-10-16-2.png)