By Ian Gordon

Chaz Davies escaped unhurt after a late crash on the opening day of the final pre-season test in World Superbikes in Australia.

The Knighton-born rider suffered a spill on his Ducati at the final corner of the Phillip Island track near Melbourne.

But Davies, 29, walked away without injury and will be back on the track on Tuesday for the final day of testing ahead of this weekend’s season opener.

And Davies said: “We followed a specific program, working on competitiveness over 20 laps and keeping the race weekend in mind.

“With the team, we only made a few, small changes to the chassis and electronics, and I was quite happy before the crash.

“I was trying a new compound, but I couldn’t find the same feeling. Maybe I needed a bit more time with it, but unfortunately I crashed out in the last corner.

“The good news is that I’m physically OK, so we’ll be able to move on with our program tomorrow.”

Davies is confident of mounting a sustained challenge for the World Superbikes title this season after finishing runner-up to Jonathan Rea in 2015.

He finished yesterday’s test in eighth place for his Aruba.it Racing team, just over 0.5seconds adrift of 2014 champ Tom Sykes who led a Kawasaki one-two with Rea.