Chaz Davies (Ducati Superbike Team) currently lies sixth in the standings ahead of the final round of the 2014 eni FIM Superbike World Championship, taking place on November 2nd at Losail International Circuit, Qatar. The Briton, who has enjoyed four podium finishes so far this year, feels things could have been a bit better in terms of results and consistency.

“It has definitely been an up and down season” said Davies. “I feel at the moment we have been below expectations but generally the trend and the work with the team has always been positive and we are getting more competitive each and every time out. In the middle of the season, we were more or less in touch with the podium for quite a few races except at Magny-Cours, where I struggled. Generally I’m happy and quite satisfied, but obviously we want to do better, the long term goal is to look forward to next year.”
“Normally we have shown a little bit better in the races, especially on my side of the garage” continued Davies. “There have been rounds where I was stronger on the Sunday rather than in the previous two days. There have been times when both myself and Davide have struggled during races, for example in Malaysia because of the temperature and the conditions that affected our bike quite a lot. Generally there have been many rounds where the positives were on race day rather than during practice and qualifying. It has been very mixed but we have learnt something at every race and also from our mistakes. We still need to make a couple of steps forward before we can win a race but we also need to have the right circuit at the moment. There are times where we lose a little bit too much top speed, we are working on that and closing the gap all the time.”

Despite the up and down season, Davies is sure that the work done this year and the experience gathered aboard the 1199 Panigale R will pay off next year. “The team has been working very well and the development is progressing, it’s just a matter of putting everything together and I’m sure in 2015 we will be much more consistent and stronger throughout the season” added Davies. “It’s the first time in ten years that not only I’ll be in the same team but also I will be racing with the same bike. I’m really looking forward to that. For sure this winter it will make things much more simple, there won’t be much to learn and we will already have a base setting so it’ll will be just a matter of working hard. I’m really happy but I also feel like it’s my time to be in this position. Many other riders have had this kind of opportunity before, like Johnny (Jonathan Rea), Eugene (Laverty) with Aprilia Tom (Sykes) and Loris (Baz), and it’s worked out well for them. It’s really worth something and it’s going to be nice to be in that position next year. Being with Ducati it’s excellent and with the team as well, it’s such a nice group of guys. They are doing a great job and I’m happy.”