Cycle News

VOL. 51 ISSUE 2 JANUARY 14, 2014 the end of last year, because 2013 was difficult for Ducati with this bike. Do you think there is a lot more to come even after those early tests? With development you can turn anything around. I go back to Tom [Sykes] because look at where Kawasaki has come from and look at where they are now. I think Tom and [Loris] Baz are the people to beat, because of the situation they are in with that bike. I think in 2013 they maybe struggled with the [Ducati] bike a bit and also settings in the first year of the bike, but also Carlos [Checa] took some big injuries last year. And [Ayrton] Badovini also, quite a few bike ones. After time, that plays a part. So we probably did not see the best of the Panigale last year, but you still need the input from the manufacturer and Ducati needs to be pushing 110 percent to make the bike as good as it can be. But from what I saw in the early tests, we made some changes, put it in the ballpark and the lap times came. I went faster at Aragon than I had on the BMW on race rubber, so that shows progress. It was faster than they [Ducati] had been round there before. There were some pretty big chassis changes made there to put it into a different area. And that was on the new forks and brakes for this year. I did my best lap on a set of discs that I had never heard of, so we found a good combination. The front forks and rear shock we used at Aragon were the ones Öhlins will use as a base for this year. I was using the cheaper non-through rod versions. It seems if everybody was going Evo in 2014 not 2015 then you would be in a better position, given the good Superstock showings of the " I WENT FASTER AT ARAGON THAN I HAD ON THE BMW ON RACE RUBBER, SO THAT SHOWS PROGRESS. " Panigale at times. So do you look at it as 2015 being even better for you when everybody will go Evo? Yes, but I am trying not to look at it that way, because you want results now. You do not want to have to wait 12 months. That is not what I signed up for. I signed up knowing that it might be the case, but I also signed up P71 to turn this thing into a winning bike as soon as possible, a winning package. On paper in 2015 it looks like we will be in a better position and it seems we will be suited to it, but until everybody wheels out their bike you do not really know where you are going to stand. We have just got to give it our all; if we are on all singing all dancing Superbikes or in an Evo spec. We have to just wait and see. What does it feel like to be 'just' another British rider in World Superbike? There have been so many and still are so many British riders in the series, and all the attention has been on MotoGP for a long time. Do you guys feel slightly unloved because MotoGP is such a big thing? A little bit. I came from MotoGP myself and I have seen a little bit that people from around where I live now know what MotoGP is. A few years ago they would not have known. But Superbike is still not 'there' for whatever reason. It is not in the same category. In the [Carl] Fogarty era it was a big deal and everybody [in the UK] looked to that. Nobody knew what a 500 was. It is quite different and it is funny how it changes, but I am not too bothered by it. Hopefully, Superbikes' status can go up but I cannot see it really happening, but we will see. You are a kind of an 'underthe-radar' guy at the best of times Chaz, are you not? You are not trying to get your-

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