Chaz Davies admitted he had to dig-in as he battled his way to third in Saturday’s World Superbikes race in Malaysia.

The Knighton-born ace finished eight seconds adrift as Tom Sykes became the first rider to win on the Sepang track from pole.

Davies, who started the 16-lap battle in fifth spot, was three seconds behind title rival Jonathan Rea who came home second.

That saw his deficit to Rea increase to 39 points with Sunday’s second race to come with 2013 champ Sykes 23 points further behind in third spot.

The 29-year-old said: “It was a tough race.

“For a few laps I was pacing Jonny okay but the gap started growing and I was gritting my teeth but it just wasn’t happening.

“I was struggling to hang in there, but a podium is good.

“It was a good job from Tom. I think everybody expected him to drop off, but it was a fantastic job effort from him.

“I’ll be looking to do better in the second race.”

Sykes had to take part in pre-qualifying having finished 11th in Friday practiced.

But he stormed through that and blasted to pole and then dominated the race to claim the 29th win of his career, breaking his own lap record in the process.

Sykes said: “People often criticise me and write me off, but I’ve shown what I can do. It’s a really nice feeling to have won.”