Parkingo Aprilia's Chaz Davies bagged his first ever World Superbike podium at Motorland Aragon yesterday and feels that he had the pace to win race two but the speed of rivals Max Biaggi, Eugene Laverty and Marco Melandri was so even.

The Welshman said he felt he had the pace for victory in the second encounter, after equalling his best result so far with a fourth earlier on in the day, and is still looking for the last few details to get the perfect setup for his satellite RSV4.

“In some ways it was a bit of a surprise to be on the podium as I had not made the best of starts, but then got my head down and kept chipping away. I had the pace, I felt, to win the race but there were four guys out there all so evenly matched," said Davies.

"The bike has always been strong but it has been down to me getting comfortable on it, getting used to it and now I feel able to be pushing for 100 per cent. We are still searching for the last few details, you always want the perfect bike.

“The start of the season I had the injury, we had bad luck, getting taken out and we could not get a break but things are turning and we’ve had six top ten finishes in the last eight races, so we have made a big step in the right direction.”