Davies Looking For Another Vintage Display In Jerez

Chaz Davies is gunning for more success in Jerez this weekend in his bid to finish runner-up in the World Superbikes Championship.

The Knighton-born rider claimed a memorable double triumph there last year and has three wins in all for Ducati on the Spanish track.

And Davies knows a repeat of that success would see him move ahead of rival Tom Sykes in the race to finish second to Jonathan Rea.

The aruba.irt Racing Ducati rider is just nine points adrift of his Kawasaki rival with four races left this season.

The 30-year-old, runner-up in 2015 and third last year, said: “We had good results at Jerez.

“I feel our package has worked quite well there in the past couple of years, especially in terms of tyre wear.

“In the past, it was tricky to preserve the rear and get the best feeling with the front, especially in the heat.

“The track has been resurfaced anyway, so that will be the first thing to understand.

“Usually this changes things quite a lot, so that shall be interesting because we spent so many years riding the same tarmac and basically getting used to it.

“We’ll start from the setup we used in the last races, and adapt it to what we find out about Jerez.

“The goal is to have another solid weekend and come home with as many points as possible.”

Sykes is still battling with the hand and finger injuries that forced him to miss the round in Portugal and affected him at the last round in France.

Then, team-mate Jonathan Rea sealed a record hat-trick of World Superbikes titles.

Sykes said: “We still have things to do before the end of the season and I am looking forward to riding again at Jerez.

“We have won there before and done a lot of testing there.

“I am definitely looking forward to getting on the bike again, even though I am not 100per cent yet with my hand injury.

“In my eyes, I am considerably better than I was at Magny Cours in the previous round. So that gives me extra confidence and motivation.

“Hats off to the team of people who have looked after me and helped me to get to this stage.

“It is unbelievable how far we have come with the injury in such a short space of time.

“In the approach to Jerez we need to do what we did in France again because I was pleasantly surprised in our pace there. It worked out nicely for me.”