WSBK: Davies Bows out of Ducati with Estoril Race 2 Victory

Chaz Davies won his final race with the Ducati factory team at the season finale at Estoril.

The Welshman took the lead on Lap 2 and extended his advantage from there. Scott Redding beat Toprak Razgatlioglu in the late stages to secure a Ducati 1-2.

Jonathan Rea ends the championship on 360 points. Redding finished runner-up with a 55 points disadvantage while Davies trails the top by 87 points in third.

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team) took the holeshot from pole and led into Turn 1 from Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) and Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing Ducati).

Davies swiftly moved up into second on the opening lap before claiming the lead through Turn 1 on Lap 2. Razgatlioglu kept shadowing him with Gerloff in third while punches were exchanged behind them between Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team), Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) and Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team).

The race was over for Gerloff on Lap 3 when the American went down at the VIP corner and was out of contention. Rea inherited third and had his sight firmly set on the duo in the lead.

As Rea reeled in Razgatlioglu, Davies started to gradually put a few bike lengths between himself and his chasers. Rea had multiple looks at his Yamaha opponent, but every time he attempted to overtake, Razgatlioglu retaliated immediately.

Rea got continuously frustrated and was forced into a mistake on Lap 9. Diving down the inside through Turn 3, the world champion lost the front and went down. Although he was able to rejoin the race, his 100^th race win will have to wait until next season.

Razgatlioglu was hit by Rea in the incident but miraculously managed to stay upright. However, the Turkish rider now had Redding to deal with who inherited third and was running a stronger pace than the Yamaha.

Rea’s fall also impacted the manufacturers’ championship. Whereas the title previously had Kawasaki written all over it, Ducati were now back within a chance. With Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) running in fifth though, the Japanese marque would still prevail by a narrow margin.

The script changed again when Lowes went down at Orelha on Lap 16, leaving the championship fight for Kawasaki in the hands of Xavi Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) who was involved in a battle for sixth with Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GoEleven) and Leon Haslam (Team HRC).

Redding had caught up with Razgatlioglu by Lap 18 and swiftly made his move past into Turn 1 a lap later. The Yamaha rider tried everything to hang on to the position but had to surrender as Redding stayed ahead for good and started to edge away.

Davies was comfortable out front and took the chequered flag first – ending his seven year stint with Ducati in style. Redding came home second to secure a 1-2 finish while Razgatlioglu rounded out the podium.

Van der Mark came fourth at his last outing with Yamaha while Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) was fifth. Independents’ champion Rinaldi crossed the line in sixth ahead of Haslam and Fores whose eighth place secured the manufacturers’ title for Kawasaki by a single point. Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) came ninth and Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) completed the top 10.

Wildcard Jonas Folger (Bonovo Action by MGM Racing) was 11^th from Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Leandro Mercado (Motocorsa Racing). Rea’s comeback ended in 14^th while Matteo Ferrari (Barni Racing Team) secured the final point on offer.

The MIE Racing Hondas of Eric Granado and Takumi Takahashi just missed out while Sheridan Morais (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) and Loris Cresson (Outdo Kawasaki TPR) were last to finish the race. Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) joined Gerloff and Lowes among the non-finishers with a mechanical failure.