Davies: "I’m happy to be at that sharp end again"
Second place in Race 2 rounds off most successful weekend since Aragon Round
At the Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) didn’t manage to grab a first win since the Aragon Round, extending his winless streak to ten races. But considering how the previous two rounds went down, the GEICO US Round saw a huge step up for the Ducati rider. Two second places, the fastest lap of the weekend in both qualifying and racing conditions, and the feeling that, in these conditions, it’s a matter of time before the Welshman triumphs again.
One mistake in Race 1 aside, Davies’ weekend performance at Laguna Seca was almost flawless. Starting from eighth on the grid in Race 2, Davies led a slow charge to the front of the field, with several brave passes along the way. Repeating second place, the Welshman rounded off his best weekend in the championship since April.
“Obviously the goal is always to win, but I felt like we got the best out myself, the package and everything today and yesterday”, Davies said after Race 2. “I’m just happy to be at that sharp end again, because it’s been a couple of tough races. It’s good to be back at the front. Thanks to my guys, because they gave me a really good bike again this weekend”.
Davies’ final move to the second step of the rostrum came over Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia), a late brake at the Andretti Hairpin which nearly had even the Welshman worried. “It was a lunge from quite far back, I winced even a little bit myself!”, admitted Davies, who was also eager to congratulate the Irishman on his return to the podium: “Obviously he’s had a comeback from injury and everything, it was really great to see him on the podium”.
At Misano, Davies hopes for a few more adjustments that can have him fighting for the win: “We’re missing a little bit here and a little bit there, there’s no one single area. I feel we’ve made strides to improve where we’ve been weak in the last two weekends, but we need to polish up on those details. You can’t magic these things overnight”.
Misano weekend takes place from July 6-8. Catch all of the action there, as well as everything that went down in the GEICO US Round, thanks to the WorldSBK VideoPass.
