Ducati’s Chaz Davies was riding right on the limit for his third place in today’s opening World Superbike race and said that despite not having any more in the locker, he has no answer for the Kawasaki pairing of Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea.

Davies was with the front group in the early stages and then lost ground as both Sykes and Rea dropped down to the low 1’28s. The Welshman ended up catching and passing early leader Leon Haslam for the last podium spot - his first in WSBK at Donington Park.

“It’s my home round so it’s good to come away with a podium. We have got nothing for the green bikes, they are in a different world. I thought race pace would be around the mid-1’28s but on demand they can do low 1’28s,” said Davies, speaking to bikesportnews.com.

“The way they are able to make the bike work and deliver a lot of power, punch forward without moving around too much and we tend to fight the bike a little more. Those two aside I did the maximum that I could.

“I didn’t feel the rear tyre was great at the end but it didn’t cost me. I backed off the last few laps. When we lose grip, we lose stability, the bike wheelies more, it’s slip/grip and it’s a hard bike to ride in that situation.

“We have improved the bike over the weekend but that’s as much as I have got.”