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Last race of the season, split into two fractions following the red flag in the tenth lap when Al Sulaiti’s Kawasaki decided to burst into flames on the straight, giving the hometown hero a slight scare and a bit of a reddened backside. Until that moment, Davies had been in the lead ahead of Sykes and Guintoli, whereas Rea had been much farther back after a mistake at the start of the second lap.
After the second start, Davies stayed in the lead and won his eleventh race of the season without actually being bothered by any of his rivals. Rea, on a brilliant comeback, tried to catch the Ducati riding Welshman, but when he realized that he would not be able to do so, he decided instead to slow down and allow his teammate, Tom Sykes, to pass, thus clinching his position as World SBK runner-up with this second place finish.
Rea's gesture is almost unbelievable: for the entire season, the Northern Irishman has put down and humiliated Sykes but, with a spontaneous and reciprocal embrace after the chequered flag, it would seem that the two have finally made their peace. Behind the three Brits, absolute dominators of the entire season, Guintoli rode a good race, Leon Haslam was brilliant and the best Italian in Qatar was Raffaele De Rosa, finishing ninth astride his Althea BMW, with Lorenzo Savadori finishing twelfth.
However, after doing a bit of math, the numbers are clear: Davies had the most wins, 11, like no other. “What a wonderful move by Rea for Tom… It’s all good. I am happy anyway today about this record and I promise that next year I will try to repeat the same result.”
In order to achieve this result, Davies did some decisive testing over the summer and he had said it straight away: “The Panigale is a second skin for me now” and how can you argue with that? Davies’ domination, nevertheless, did not overshadow too much the victories of team Kawasaki, who is still the team to beat with two well-rounded riders consistently in the top positions. Davide Giugliano’s forfeit brought no hay into the barn for team Aruba and who knows what Marco Melandri must be thinking… it will be a short and intense winter.
Overall Standings: Rea 498, Sykes 447, Davies 445
