Friday

Finally Most! Finally the first laps of WorldSBK on the “new entry” circuit, after the long wait created in the previous days! Unfortunately, the day was not exploited to the maximum, but at least it was possible to understand the layout of the track and what is needed for the set-up of the bike.

The first practice starts at 10.30 under the sun, which heats the asphalt around 27°C. Chaz takes to the track with the aim of understanding the lines to interpret the Czech track in the best possible way, without taking too many risks. His approach to new circuits is like this: he takes his time to evaluate the track, then improves lap after lap, session after session.

Free Practice 1: 
P 1   T. Razgatliouglu   1.33.022
P 2   A. Lowes   + 0.600
P 3   S. Redding   + 0.641
…
P 17   C. Davies   + 2.363

In FP 2 the Welsh rider was ready to hit the track with new tyres, to complete what he had learned in the morning. Unfortunately, a few moments before the session it starts to rain, completely changing the teams’ plans. It is not the first time, this year, that the weather gets in the way, and always in an uncertain way; even today until the last minutes the track was neither in Rain nor Slick conditions. No time set, therefore, by Chaz and the light-blue Ducati V4-RS. Solution? Riders standing in the pits chatting to each other, demonstrating the relaxed atmosphere in perfect WorldSBK style!

All postponed until tomorrow, where the weather seems to be quite nice. The WorldSBK protagonist will have a few minutes in the morning to get ready for Superpole and Race 1, with little data available. It will be an enjoyable weekend!

Chaz Davies:
“It was interesting to discover this new circuit, and I enjoy the layout. It’s completely different, uncomparable to anything we have got on the calendar at the moment, but I have to say that it’s quite an enjoyable track. I need to get my head around a little bit, normally I like to sleep on a new circuit, and then come out with better ideas on what I need to do on the following day and that would be the case for tomorrow. Unfortunately this afternoon with the rain we loose quite a lot of track time, and that was something I was not hoping for. I just hope we will find dry tomorrow and Sunday and try to make some steps forward!”

Saturday

The weekend on the Most track didn’t get off to a good start for Go Eleven and Chaz Davies. It is useless to hide the reality, and the crash in Race 1 shows that, in the Czech Republic, performances are struggling to come.

In FP 3, Chaz rode with racing tyres, significantly improving the Best Lap signed yesterday morning, closing the gap to the leader. The feeling with the track, however, was still not the best, especially from the second sector onwards. At the end of the session there was also an attempt with the soft tyre, with which, however, the number seven improved only a few tenths, due to a bit of traffic on the track.

Free Practice 3: 
P 1   S. Redding   1.32.340
P 2   J. Rea   + 0.053
P 3   A. Locatelli   + 0.210
…
P 14   C. Davies   + 1.666

In Superpole the goal was the first three rows. The choice falls on making 2 laps with the SCX, and then move on the famous “Q”, using only one of the two available. With the first tyre, the time is not bad, but with the Q, Chaz manages to lower only two tenths, hitting the sixth row, in sixteenth position. Definitely not a good session, but even in difficulty you have to know how to look ahead.

Superpole:
P 1   J. Rea   1.31.684
P 2   T. Razgatlioglu   + 0.067
P 3   S. Redding   + 0.474
…
P 16   C. Davies   + 1.923

Race 1 starts with the “usual” hope of a comeback. Chaz starts well and manages to find a good position in the bottleneck of the first corner with 4 positions recovered. The pace is in line with a Top Ten result, but unfortunately on the fifth lap the crash of Lowes in front of him, forces him to touch the brake in the middle of the turn, the damaged asphalt of T 1 betrays him, and he ends up on the ground. No consequences for Chaz, nor for the bike, just a great regret for not having finished the race, on a day in which many riders, even some at the Top standings as Rea, crashed, sliding on the treacherous asphalt of the Czech track.

Race 1: 
P 1   T. Razgatlioglu   34’14.370
P 2   S. Redding   + 0.040
P 3   A. Locatelli   + 13.838
…
DNF   Chaz Davies

Chaz Davies:
“It was a disappointing day. I got a good start, I found myself on the outside in Turn 1, and my track position was quite good. Then, maybe, I was a little bit faster then a couple of riders in front of me, but I couldn’t find the way to overtake, and here there is just a couple of opportunity to pass, if you do a good job in the corner before. Anyway, I was trying to set my pace, it was not fantastic at that time, but I had good margin to improve. Then in Turn 1 Lowes crashed just in front of me, and the moment that I saw him crash, I then crashed , too. It was a bit strange, because I was looking at him, thinking to make sure I avoid him, then I close the front. I caused a bit of damage, so it was impossible to continue the race. Unfortunately, it was a difficult day, but awfully we can improve a little bit tomorrow!”

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager): 
“What a pity for today, it was a bad day! It would have been important to finish the race, at least to get the informations and datas to work on and improve in view of the two races on Sunday. Here in Most we have never been fast, in any session, we lack the feeling we found on other tracks. We need to work to try to change the weekend tomorrow.”

Sunday

Two races coming back, after two bad starts. The script was similar in the two races on Sunday. The disappointment is great, especially for Race 2, where the pace was in line to fight in the top 5, but a crash in front of him in the first corner forced Chaz to go on the gravel.

The Warm Up takes place in good weather conditions after the rain that fell in the night. Due to the cold asphalt, Chaz uses a SC0 at the rear, which allows him to do several laps at a constant pace, coming within a few tenths of his personal best lap recorded in Superpole.

Warm Up:
P 1   J. Rea   1.32.566
P 2   S. Redding   + 0.055
P 3   T. Razgatlioglu   + 0.075
…
P 13   C. Davies   + 1.322

Superpole Race; the 10-lap race on this circuit is even more complicated for those who start from the rear. There are few overtaking hotspots, and with such a narrow “S”, a lot of time is lost at the start of the race. Chaz starts badly, he is even twentieth on the way out towards the first sector, then sets his pace and recovers six positions, with as many overtakes, in 8 laps. He finishes in fourteenth position, outside the grid inversion for Race 2.

Superpole Race:
P 1   T. Razgatlioglu   15’28.861
P 2   S. Redding   + 0.496
P 3   J. Rea   + 1.384
…
P 14   C. Davies   + 22.917

Race 1 starts with the “usual” hope of a comeback. Chaz starts well and manages to find a good position in the bottleneck of the first corner with 4 positions recovered. The pace is in line with a Top Ten result, but unfortunately on the fifth lap the crash of Lowes in front of him, forces him to touch the brake in the middle of the turn, the damaged asphalt of T 1 betrays him, and he ends up on the ground. No consequences for Chaz, nor for the bike, just a great regret for not having finished the race, on a day in which many riders, even some at the Top standings as Rea, crashed, sliding on the treacherous asphalt of the Czech track.
Race 2: 
P 1   S. Redding   34’06.298

P 2   T. Razgatlioglu   + 3.587
P 3   J. Rea   + 12.460
…
P 12   C. Davies   + 38.396

The comeback ambitions of Go Eleven and the Welsh rider in Race 2 essentially end on the first lap; Bassani and Delbianco crashes, Chaz and other riders are forced to go into the sand to avoid them, losing contact with the group. Finally, Chaz does not lose heart and begins the comeback by riding on the high 33, in line with the top 5. In each overtaking, however, he loses more than a second, precisely because of the few opportunities that the Most track offers. Towards the middle of the race he finds himself in the points, chasing Rabat and Nozane.
A few steps from the end he makes two excellent attacks and ends his race in twelfth position, still printing a 33.8 on the last lap.

Chaz Davies:
“It was a difficult weekend, in the Superpole Race I got a terrible start, then I was in the pack. I found quite difficult to overtake here, so it compromise a bit the race. Anyway my pace wasn’t fantastic. In the last race, again, not a good start, I saw a big crash on the inside of me, right in my direction in turn 1 from Bassani. If I didn’t lift the bike I would have had a contact with him on the ground, so I went on the gravel with someday else and I was obviously really far behind. The pace was better, probably the best of this weekend and I found a little bit more rhythm in the second race. I felt that the bike improved a little bit, but it still didn’t feel easy. At the end of the race our laptime wasn’t so bad, I think we could have shown a little bit better without the first corner incident. For sure it has been a not easy weekend!”

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager): 
“Today we were able to take a step forward, at least in terms of the performance of the bike. When you start from behind, the chances of being involved in contacts or crashes is much higher, and today the accident at the first corner take us out of the game. Chaz still managed to do a good race, he is a hound, but we have to find the solution to be more effective with the qualifying tyre, this is fundamental for the next races. Now there is Navarra, in the tests we had good feelings, and the desire for redemption is strong in each of us!”