Mixed results for Davies as Booth-Amos tops the standings

The Newport flier followed-up Saturday's second place with his first win of the season on Sunday to top the standings after one round in Aragon, Spain.

Meanwhile, Chaz Davies opened his World Superbike account with a mixed bag results that included positive fifth followed by a crash in race two after choosing the wrong tyres in changing weather conditions.

The Mid Wales star also picked up a fourth in Sunday's shortened Superpole race, which leaves him eighth in the standings.

Rob Vennegoor, Booth-Amos' team manager at RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki, said: "What can I say? During the winter period we have left nothing to chance, but that does not guarantee success at all.

"The first race weekend is therefore always exciting, especially when it comes to a double race weekend.

"If this is a precursor to the rest of the season, it could be a very special year for us."

Davies, 34, from Presteigne, qualified for fifth for Saturday's opening race and began chasing the top four.

After passing former team-mate Scott Redding, he had Alex Lowes and Toprak Razgatlioglu in his sights.

However, after being affected by a lack of grip in the closing stages he was forced to give up fourth place to Redding, crossing the line in fifth.

"It was nice to get the first race of the season done," said Davies. "There is always a lot of anticipation, especially after a long winter.

"Honestly, I was hoping to at least show a will to be able to fight for the podium but there were few issues preventing me from doing that."

Mixed weather conditions greeted the riders on Sunday with light rain making the tyre choices a real dilemma.

Just before the Superpole race, half the circuit was almost dry, which convinced Davies to start with intermediate tyres.

And it turned out to be the right choice too as the Welshman managed to breakaway with Lowes, Jonathan Rea and Garrett Gerloff.

After finishing fourth, Davies decided to risk using an intermediate tyre on the front and a wet on the rear, which would prove costly.

After crashing at turn seven, he returned to the pits and swapped to slick tyres, lapping half a second faster than eventual winner Redding – minus a right stand, rear brake, front wing and part of the rear fairing.

Eventually, the main consolation was he managed to post the fastest lap of the race despite finishing back in 19th.

Davies said: "The Superpole race was a positive result and we definitively made the right decision with tyres. We had a solid race, finishing in fourth.

"I was happy with that and it was a good starting position for the second race but from the warm up lap I knew we had made the wrong decision with the tyres.

"I had to decide whether to stop immediately before the race start and put the full slicks on for start the race.

"I decided to start the race but I had a wet front tyre, and at turn seven, on the very first lap, I closed the front.

"Exactly why, I am not sure. I could have been a little bit on an extra wet path. Anyway I crashed, unfortunately, picked up the bike, went to the garage, put the slicks on and then just tried to enjoy the 17 laps.

"I just got the small consolation to get the best lap of the race and the pace wasn't so bad, I just obviously wished I had made the decision to start on slicks.

"It was a really difficult day – it was really easy to be the hero or the zero – and we were both today.

"Anyway, it has been good to enjoy the weekend with the team and we look forward to Estoril next week."

It is a quick turnaround for both riders as round two of World Superbikes and WorldSS300 takes place at the Estorial circuit, in Portugal, Friday to Sunday.