Superbike: Chaz Davies aims for the World title

The sensational end to the season in which Chaz Davies was the protagonist, with triumph in 7 of the last 8 races, projects the Welsh Ducati rider as the first challenger to World Champion Jonathan Rea in 2017.

In a recent interview with MotorCycleNews, Davies stated that he is aware and confident of his and the Panigale's competitiveness, with which he created an incredible synergy in the second half of the year after the initial difficulties which unfortunately prevented him from competing for the title .
The objective for next year is first of all to start where we finished, in front of everyone, and the steps forward made during the year in terms of bike set-up give us hope.

“At the end of last season we really found our footing. After making some set-up changes in the testing phase, the whole package started to work well not on just one track, but for the whole half of the season after the summer break” – said a Chaz Davies surprisingly optimistic – “It's a shame that the second race in Germany was wet because I think I could have had a full run of victories, but that's part of the 'ifs' and 'buts' discussion now.”

“The most important thing for me was the turnaround compared to 2015, even at the end of the season: even when we were strong we always struggled in Qatar, but this year we won both races with a convincing pace. This was the most satisfying note of the season finale because it wasn't just a flash here or a flash there, but rather a consistently winning pace."

Consistency is the point where we need to improve the most if we really want to compete with a "hound" like Jonathan Rea: Chaz Davies knows very well that the lack of continuity in the first half of the season was fatal for his world championship aspirations.

“Johnny is super-consistent, he won his first world championship thanks to an irresistible pace, he always seemed to have something more than everyone else. There were moments when we managed to match him, but he was very strong everywhere. This year he focused more on continuity and this is precisely what allowed him to win the title. When he's not on the day he finishes third! ” – said the Welsh driver – “This has also been our downfall in the last couple of years, because we have always had races where we have collected 'zero points' and when you race against someone like Johnny, that immediately puts you in a disadvantaged position. However, I am happy with my season finale: I didn't do anything wrong and I never crashed again after the last race before the summer break.”

“The bike is more balanced and gives me better feedback, I no longer need to ride so close to the limit in the race with the risk of falling. I can keep a small percentage of my potential for myself and that's nice, it's the key to being able to challenge Johnny for the title next year."

However, Davies is aware that the reigning Champion will not be his only rival: "It looks like next season will be really good: there are bikes that are improving, new bikes on the way and lots of excellent riders!" – he added – “There will be great competition, with Eugene [Laverty7] returning [to Aprilia] and [Stefan8] Bradl arriving [to Honda], which is always good. They will show us what level this championship has reached over the last couple of years."

The world title has been missing for Ducati since 2011, the year in which Carlos Checa triumphed with the 1198 of the Althea team: Davies is therefore aware that all eyes are on him: “Winning the title for Ducati would be great! I know what it's like to win a race for them, so I can only begin to imagine what it would be like to win the championship. The bike has evolved a lot since I first jumped on it at the end of 2013. It's been a long, long journey.” – concluded the Welsh driver – “We are not resting on our laurels, we are working hard and I think this has been seen in our results. I'm really optimistic that, next year, we can fight for the championship and go one notch higher in the hearts of Ducati fans!”