DAVIES DERAILS REA ON FIVE
W
inner of five races in five
attempts, having taken the
first race in Spain after Chaz
Davies crashed on the penul-
timate lap while leading by a
narrow margin, Jonathan Rea
would not get his half-dozen,
as Davies showed resilience,
enough speed and guile, and a
giant dose of determination to
win a race at the April 1-2 Aragon
round of the 2017 WorldSBK
Championship.
"The game has changed this
year," said Davies. "They [Ka-
wasaki] have taken strong steps
forward—and so have we—but we
have to be more efficient with our
bike. Now we can say for the first
time that speed is good."
Davies said it was neces-
sary to try and make sure Rea
did not run off into the distance
even this early in the year, but
some pointed to the fact that
maybe settling for a last-lap fight
with Rea, and then a minimum
of 20 points—not the zero he
got—would have been a better
race-one outcome.
Now 50 points behind, Da-
vies is already playing a game
of catch up no one in normal
circumstances would imagine
can be done, not when he did
not leave his favorite track with
full points, or even more than his
still impressive 25.
Rea was up against a wall of
Davies in Aragon all the same,
even though Davies lost a whole
hour to a busted bike on day
one, and even though his race-
one crash saw his leg trapped
between the bike and the tire
with Davies pinned under there
for a long trip across asphalt and
gravel.
IN
THE
WIND
P50
Chaz Davies (7) pushed like all hell
and finally took a 2017 victory.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
