Davies Confident Of Making Right Steps Before Penultimate Race

Chaz Davies is looking to dazzle under the lights when he lines-up for the penultimate time in World Superbikes this season in Qatar on Friday.

The Powys-born rider was ninth fastest in opening practice in Losail which guaranteed him a spot in Superpole 2 today when gird positions are decided.

Davies will be competing on the Panigale R bike this weekend before Ducati debuts its new bike for the 2019 campaign.

The 31-year-old goes into the final two rounds looking to wrap-up second place in the championship before Ulsterman Jonathan Rea.

Davies is 24 points ahead of Yamaha’s Dutch rider Michael van der Mark with 50 points left to race for.

“Here in Qatar, the track is always a bit dirty and dusty when we first start but, as tarmac conditions improved through the sessions, so did we,” said Davies of his free practice showings.

“Perhaps our setup is better suited for conditions with more grip but, towards the end, I was starting to push a bit harder and the Panigale R responded well.

“On Friday the track will be cleaner, which will help us a lot, but we’ll also need to focus on turning.

“We’ve been struggling a little bit in this aspect in the fastest parts of the track and I want to get off the side of the tire a bit quicker. We’ve been improving, but we want to make a bigger step ahead of the race.”