SBK, Ducati Suicide, Rea is 6th at the TT, Davies out and goodbye championship

Chaz Davies and Ducati were ready for the final duel against Johnny Rea and Kawasaki, but just as things were at their best, the Welshman’s ambitions went up in smoke. Indeed, because in the penultimate lap, his Red left him stranded, just has he was about to launch the decisive attack on his rival. In the two previous laps he had managed to overtake his rival at the same spot, but during the 20th lap the clash never even came.

Chaz left the race in the worst possible way, without even being able to fight: “I was expecting an attack from Johnny - Davies revealed - A real pity about this finale. We still are not sure exactly what happened - he added - maybe something to do with the electronics.” And to think that after Superpole, the Aruba standard-bearer had very clear ideas: “I was confident before the race, maybe I wouldn’t have stayed close to Rea, but in any case I had what I needed to finish on the podium.”

The Cannibal was grateful for the gift, conquering at Assen for the tenth victory. Now he had an advantage of 75 points ahead of number 7 and for Ducati this DNF has the taste of a goodbye to the Championship: “Everything went right - the reigning champion said - an important win on this track, although I need to be more competitive in the chicanes. I am certainly sorry about what happened to Davies.”

It could not have been a better Saturday for Kawasaki, because the team did the double thanks to Sykes’ second place, now second in the Championship with 111 points. With Davies’ withdrawal, Marco Melandri finished on the podium: “I never would have thought that I would finish in the top five - he revealed – the changes we made in the qualifiers really gave me confidence. Staying with the top three was definitely more complicated today and I was struggling too much.”

Forés finished just off the podium, followed by a super Lorenzo Savadori and Stefan Bradl, both with their best performances of the year. Ramos astonished on his Kawasaki ahead of Laverty and Mercado astride their respective Aprilias. De Angelis was twelfth ahead of De Rosa and Mercado.