Source: Ducati Corse.

Welshman Chaz Davies charged to two of the most important podiums of his career on Sunday, delivering the new-look factory Ducati Superbike Team a pair of podiums at Imola in Italy.

Davies powered the 1199 Panigale to a second place finish in both of the day’s hard-fought Superbike races, swept by Honda’s Jonathan Rea.

In race one Davies got away extremely well from fourth on the grid and by the end of lap one he was already lying second, behind Rea. He fended off a charge from Tom Sykes and Sylvain Guintoli mid-race, scoring his first podium of the year.

He back that result up in the second leg, gaining momentum in the second half of the race to slice his way from fourth to second in the closing stages.

“These have been the best races of the season and undoubtedly my best race weekend so far, in that we’ve been consistently strong since Friday,” Davies beamed. “It’s great to be on the podium and is the best way to thank Ducati and all of the guys, both in the team and the factory, for all of their hard work.

“Race one was difficult. Jonathan got away quickly and there was no way to stay with him but we had a good battle behind him. Race two turned out to be pretty similar. We chose a fairly standard setting today and I was able to ride really well.

“I can almost ride the bike as I would like, we just have a small problem with rear vibration to iron out but tomorrow, during the tests, we will also work on this and I’m sure we’ll be able to improve.

“I’m very pleased with the double podium of course and it confirms how much work has been done in Ducati over the last months, so I want to dedicate today’s results to Ducati and all the fans.”

At the end of this fourth world championship round, Davies lies in fifth position in the standings with 87 points.