VOL. 51 ISSUE 2 JANUARY 14, 2014
P67
RED SAILS
IN THE SUNRISE
Chaz Davies readies for a season on the
Ducati Panigale in World Superbike
BY GORDON RITCHIE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
W
elshman Chaz Davies
has once again had to
change teams as a new
World Superbike season dawns
on the horizon. He won three
races on his semi-official BMW
last year and after BMW pulled
the plug he has joined the official
Ducati Corse team for 2014 – run
by the same Feel Racing crew he
competed with on behalf of BMW
last year.
The factory gig with Ducati has
always been the most desired
seat in this particular class of
racing but after last year, and the
near disaster that the Panigale
1199 became in top level racing,
it looked like red was no longer a
lucky color.
Recent test results have turned
that idea around to a fair degree,
but it has to be said, the entire
Ducati World Superbike project
is currently a work in progress.
Roll on the all Evo class in 2015?
A reassuring thought for a rider
in Davies' position, with a twoyear contract in his pocket. As a
racer he wants to win right away,
but he also understands that
maybe 2015 will be his absolute
best shot on the big Ducati twin.
We caught up with him after
the end of the 2013 winter test
schedule to find out his thoughts
on more than just his immediate
prospects on Ducati. But that is
where we began.
How is it this year in an official Ducati team compared
to last year in a semi-official
BMW team?
I do not know any different because it is the same guys I was
working with last year, and I cannot comment on how the structure was last year with Alstare.
But because this is a joining of
Feel Racing and the Ducati factory I feel that the effort and every-
