Davies Racking Up The Miles As He Gets Ready For New Season

Chaz Davies is revved up for the World Superbikes season opener in Australia after a successful test in Portugal.

The Knighton-born rider spent two days in Portimao over the weekend having opened with a two day test in Jerez.

Davies has two more days testing at Phillip Island after next week’s launch of his bike before the season starts at the Australia track on February 24th.

His best time on the Panigale was one minute 41.813 seconds – two seconds quicker than new team-mate Marco Melandri.

The Ducati rider, 29, said: “We did a lot of work in the past two days, as well as in Jerez, and overall we can be happy with the results.

“We completed a detailed program to evaluate all the technical upgrades, with good feedback.

“We were also lucky with the weather, because the rain only kept us in the pits during the first few hours on Saturday.

“Despite the fact that some areas were repaved, the track has gotten a bit bumpier since we last raced here and, consequently, it wasn’t easy to find the best possible setup.

“These tests, after a two-month break, were also crucial to allow me to get back the feeling I had on the bike towards the end of last year.

“Only in Portugal, we clocked more than 700 kilometres.

“The team has done a great job, and we’re optimistic ahead of the season opener in Australia, where we’ll take advantage of the final tests to fine-tune the details.”

Davies will start the season one of the favourites after winning seven of the last eight races in 2016 including the last six.