Chaz Davies spoils the party for Jonathan Rea after dramatic finish in Malaysia

CHAZ DAVIES spoiled the party for World Superbike Champion elect Jonathan Rea in a dramatic dash for the line in Malaysia.

Chaz Davies, left, spoilt the party for Jonathan Rea

The Ducati rider won a last corner duel with Rea to take the second race victory by inches and keep the title fight alive.

That action at Sepang was almost all too close as the two riders bashed fairings as Rea reeled in over three seconds to close in on Davies over the final two laps to set up the amazing finale.

The Kawasaki ride, aiming to complete another daily double in his dominant campaign, had the momentum and drive to charge into the final corner but Davies held on.

Rea said: "I kept my pace, kept my rhythm all of the way through the race.

"With Chaz pushing on so hard, at three-quarters distance I had accepted second place.

"But then the gap was coming down and I thought this is my one chance to go for the win and maybe the title.

“I passed him, he came back, there was contact but we held on so now we have to find the target in Jerez”

Jonathan Rea

Rea can now relax in the seven week summer break before the Spanish round as he leads Davies by 144 points and needs just seven of the remaining 150 points up for grabs to take the crown.
Earlier, Rea had snatched the opening race glory away from Davies, again with a hard riding charge through the pack from a third row start after a rare error had wrecked his qualifying.
Rea saw his team-mate and closest title rival Tom Sykes make the early running, leading at two thirds distance before slowing with rear tyre issues.

Davies took the lead with Rea moving into second.
That set up the first of the two last corner deciders, with Rea taking the verdict by 0.121secs and with it his 12th victory of the season.
Sykes slipped back to fifth place, but worse was to come next time out when he was caught up in Max Biaggi's first lap tumble, from which he fought back, only to crash himself.
The Yorkshireman re-mounted and scraped into the points, but his hopes of regaining the crown were over.