The duo had clashed in qualifying earlier when Davies’ last flying lap was wrecked when he was blocked by Rea on his warm-down lap.

Kawasaki’s reigning two-time champ was hit with a three place grid penalty dropping him from first to fourth on the grid with Davies moving up to second.

But after both swapped the lead in the closing stages, Davies suffered his problem and cruelly missed out handing a sixth win in seven races this season to the Ulsterman.

Davies, who had ended Rea’s perfect start at the last round at Motorland Aragon in Spain, dropped from second to fourth in the riders’ standings as a result.

The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati ace, 30, said: “It was a good race. I got into my rhythm at the front and the pace was strong, especially in the early laps.

“Still, we struggled a bit in a couple of areas and I didn’t want to make a mistake, so I tried to boil it down to a last-lap fight but unfortunately we were cut one lap short.

“It’s pretty disappointing because, even without knowing how it would have turned out, I think it would have been a spicy last lap to watch.

“That said, it was a good race until then. We need to make some small but important changes overnight and hopefully we’ll be able to battle for the win again in Race 2 and make it one lap further.”

Ernesto Marinelli, WorldSBK Project Director for Ducati, said: “We’re deeply sorry for what happened to Chaz while he was fighting for the win.

“He rode a great race, and we couldn’t have asked for more. It was a huge blow for all of us, but we want to react promptly in order to bounce back tomorrow in Race 2

Rea won from Kawasaki team-mate Tom Sykes with Davies’ fellow Ducati rider Marco Melandri claiming the last podium spot.

Davies is now 75 points behind Rea in fourth spot in the Championship standings. He is two points adrift of Melandri.