Chaz Davies boosted his chances of finishing second in the World Superbikes Championship as Jonathan Rea sealed his fourth title in a row in France.

The Knighton-born rider finished fifth despite still battling with the shoulder he broke twice during the summer break.

But with rival Michael van der Mark back in seventh spot at Magny-Cours, that allowed Davies to increase his lead over the Dutchman to 22 points.

There are 125 points left to race for after Sunday’s second race in France is followed by rounds in Argentina and Qatar.

Davies, who missed. atop three placing by a couple of seconds,  said: “In the middle of the race I was starting to get a sniff of a podium.

“Towards the end, however, we couldn’t really put it all together as I was struggling a bit with engine brake and I couldn’t ride as smoothly as I would’ve liked.

“It’s a shame we couldn’t have a battle, but overall I’m happy with our performance.

“Physically I’m not at 100 per cent but I felt pretty decent during the race, so now we’ll try to make the bike a little bit calmer and take advantage of the start from the front row tomorrow.”

Davies came home 10 seconds behind Rea who became the first rider in history to win the Superbikes title four years in a row.

British bike legend Carl Fogarty has also won the Superbikes crown a record four times, but they came in a six-year spell.