Chaz Davies powers to win in Germany

The 29-year-old Welshman secured his third career superpole ahead of Kawasaki Racing Team's Tom Sykes and Nicky Hayden of Honda earlier on Saturday before crossing the line 10.5 seconds ahead of his nearest rivals in the first race.

Davies powered ahead from the first lap to put some distance between himself and Sykes - who finished second - while drama struck early on when reigning champion Jonathan Rea crashed out of the race on lap eight before it was confirmed that the Northern Irishman walked away uninjured.

Hayden completed the podium as he finished a second behind Sykes with Althea BMW Racing Team's Jordi Torres and Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) following close behind.

The result sees second-placed Sykes close the gap in the riders' standings to 26 points from team-mate Rea ahead of race two on Sunday, and the Yorkshireman could not be happier with the outcome.

He told www.worldsbk.com: "For the championship it is awesome, so we'll see.

"Today it was tricky conditions, yesterday we had great pace when the track was bedded in nicely with a lot of rubber. But today it was fresh again and Chaz had great pace in this condition.

"There was no way we could fight with him. His bike was turning so well and he was riding really well, so it wasn't to be. Second is acceptable. We had a lot of pressure from some guys, especially Nicky all race, so it was a really nice race from this point of view."