Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/241255
INTERVIEW P72 CHAZ DAVIES self better known other than through the racing. You let that do the talking, yes? I try to but I do not go out seeking attention of the racing does not do the talking. It is not me; it is not my background. I am not a shouter and I do not get too lost in all the hype of it all. I think it is how you are brought up and where you come from. You do like a quiet life away from the track, and race weekends are where you get your excitement, is that right? Yes, definitely. I like going home and that is the case more and more as I get older. I like getting home and getting on with the most basic of things that you do not get a lot of time for during the season. Racing is a full-on job now as well, with all the training that goes along with it. Now I am changing the way I do things to try and gain some more performance. That is something that is consuming more of my time and making things that little bit more serious. I am changing a bit of everything in training. That has come through injury and I have struggled last year with things that never bothered me before. Not big injuries, just niggles. So I need to change how I go about my race weekend and what I do, when. Also doing a few things in the week that will hopefully make a difference on race weekend. How fit are bike racers compared to other sportsmen like cyclists, footballers, and rugby players? " IN THE END YOU ARE NOT GOOD FOR MUCH ELSE, BUT YOU ARE A PRETTY GOOD CYCLIST. YOU HAVE TO BATTLE YOURSELF SOMETIMES. " I dunno because it is hard to gauge it. I think we are all-rounders. Some guys really do go to town on the cycling, but I think that is a competitive thing as well. I have the same issue. If I start cycling, and do a decent amount of it, I want to get better and get on the bike all the time. In the end you are not good for much else, but you are a pretty good cyclist. You have to battle yourself sometimes. I think bike racers are not the best runners, not the best rowers or anything but we need to be good at a few things. Being as light as you can also helps. I have noticed that last year, when riding against Marco [Melandri]. We had the same stuff available to us both all the time, but the weight difference made a difference. You would think it wouldn't because we are on Superbikes, with tons of horsepower - we're detuning them. But the places where were you are not detuning them, and you are trying to go flat stick as soon as you can, it was obvious to me with Marco in a few places where I felt I could outdrive him, as soon as we picked the bike up and got on full throttle - he was putting bike lengths into me. I am not sure what Marco weighs, but I am 72-73kg [158 to 160 pounds]. So maybe it is 10-12kg [22 to 26 pounds] difference. I even overlooked that element myself, but when you are following Marco it was obvious. On the other side of that, how much skinner could I be? I know what weight I could get to, but I have to race a Superbike twice a day. You need a certain amount of mass to do that. You say that the Ducati, which looks very small, is still quite rangy for a tall rider like you. So World Superbike is still a do-able bike for the tall riders, like Loris Baz? I think there should be a rider and bike weight limit even here in Superbike just to make it even across the board. That sounds like an excuse, but now I have seen first hand the difference that it makes… I am for the bigger guys. But then again us taller guys may have some advantages in other ways. CN