Davies heads to Jerez ‘with nothing to lose’

Aruba.it Ducati’s Chaz Davies heads to the penultimate round of the 2016 WorldSBK season at Jerez focussing on simply winning races, admitting that he has ‘the luxury to be able to race with nothing to lose.’

The Welshman still has a mathematical shot at winning this year’s world championship, but with an 81-point deficit to standings leader Jonathan Rea it is highly unlikely that Davies will be celebrating his maiden title  in 2016 unless something pretty dramatic happens in these final four races.

With that being said, second place in the standings is still on the table. His double at Magny-Cours saw him close the gap between himself and Tom Sykes to just 33 points with 100 up for grabs.

Even if he doesn’t overhaul Sykes in the championship, third place is secure, so the pressure is off the Welshman and he now looks to finish the season in the best possible form. The Ducati rider has won seven races so far this year, clinching both victories last time out in France in stunning fashion, something that Davies says he was surprised at as Magny-Cours was not a track expected to suit the Panigale.

Davies has enjoyed a reasonable amount of success at Jerez in WorldSBK. He took to the rostrum twice in last year’s event, winning the second race, and stood on the podium in 2012 and 2014. The Aruba.it team were quick during pre-season testing at the Spanish circuit this year too, and this has Davies feeling confident over his chances ahead of this weekend’s races.

“We’ve been on a bit of a roll lately. Theoretically we’re still in the title fight, but we’re a long way behind and we have the luxury to be able to race with nothing to lose,” Davies said.

“Third place in the championship is pretty much guaranteed, but we want to do better than that. All we can do is carry on the recent good form, win races, and see where that takes us. Last year,in Jerez, we had a good pace and managed to win a race, and we’ve been fast there during the pre-season tests as well. So, we have good reasons to be confident, especially coming off a double win in Magny-Cours, which was slightly unexpected because that was maybe not the best track for our bike.”