Chaz Davies bagged another World Superbikes podium finish with third place after a hard fought race in Holland.

The Powys-born rider came home just over a second behind race winner Jonathan Rea who claimed his eighth win in a row on the legendary Assen track.

Holland’s Michael van der Mark just held off Davies for second spot after a fierce battle between the trio.

Davies is still second in the standings 21 points behind reigning three-time champ Rea ahead of Sunday’s second race.

The aruba.it Racing Ducati rider got off to a strong start from third row, passing several riders to get within the top three half-way through the race.

“The race was a tough fight, from the first until the last lap. I’m really happy with this result, considering that we struggled a bit both during free-practice and Superpole.

“Once I managed to come back through the field, I was just following Rea and stayed with him when he picked up the pace.

“Then, van der Mark passed me and in the final laps we were struggling with grip so nobody was in a position to attack and we all basically kept our positions.

“It’s been a learning process during the race, and I want to put it all into good use for race two.”

Rea’s victory equalled the record of 12 at the track held by Britain’s Carl Fogarty.

The Ulsterman is also now just two wins away from equalling Fogarty’s all-time career win record of 59.

Rea has 139 points ahead of Davies on 118 with his team-mate Marco Melandri – who led the standings after winning both races in the season opener in Australia – on 106.