Chaz Hopes For Valencian Vault
30/10/2007
Pramac d'Antin substitute rider Chaz Davies is set for his fourth MotoGP start this weekend in Valencia, as the 20-year-old Briton aims to make further improvements aboard his Bridgestone-shod Ducati.
Davies, a former 250cc rider, knows the Valencia track well and will hope to use that experience to make valuable headway on his vastly more experienced rivals.“From what I know from my experience in the 250cc class, Valencia is a very technical circuit," he explains.
"It is a good track and one at which I had my best 250cc result, a fifth place back in 2004. Everything should be the same as far as the surface goes this weekend, but it has never been hugely abrasive on tyres round there. The grip level is so-so, depending on the heat, but we are now heading into November, so it will certainly be cooling down."
"The most important job is going to be getting the bike to handle correctly because it is quite twisty in the infield. It is all about chassis performance through there, especially on a MotoGP bike, there is no place to really wind it up."
Davies' first experience of Bridgestone tyres was in his first ever MotoGP event at Laguna Seca in the USA back in July. Having been drafted in as a last minute sub for the injured Alex Hofmann, Davies wasted no time in extracting the maximum from his machine and tyres, setting the tenth fastest lap of the race. He hopes to regain similar pace in Valencia this weekend, the final event of the 2007 season.
"From a tyre point of view," he says, "my first MotoGP race at Laguna Seca was quite easy, which I appreciate in hindsight, because of the amount of grip we had there, I think the balance of the chassis and tyres was working awesome there. In Phillip Island, things were a little bit more difficult just to find the rear grip, but not every track is going to be the same, so hopefully this weekend we can make another step forward.”