Chaz Davies
Motorsports | January 18, 2012
The 2011 racing season for Specialized rider Chaz Davies saw the likable Welshman accomplish a lifetime goal, while 2012 sees him stepping up for more.
Davies (24) has been racing motorcycles since before he was ten years old, competing in a variety of motorcycle roadrace championships, from the US series to MotoGP, against the likes of fellow Specialized athletes, Ben Spies and Nicky Hayden.
Davies has enjoyed flashes of notable success—he’s won the Daytona 200 motorcycle race and scored points in the intensely competitive 125 and 250 Grand Prix world championships—the former when he was just fifteen years old. All-out champion status had eluded the lanky rider who lists his hobbies as riding his Specialized bicycle and playing video games.
For the past few years, Davies has raced the uber-competitve World Supersport championship. This class uses 600cc production machinery but allows for a wide brush in terms of possible modifications. World Supersport is renown for intense racing action and being the working space for riders very confident in their craft.
Davies began the season on Triumph machinery, but his team parted ways with the British bikes when the possibility of receiving top-level Yamaha World Supersport bikes arrived on their doorstep. Changing bikes at the start of the season may have been a pair of cement shoes for a lesser rider and team, but Davies’ experience and keen ability to find a set up capable of race wins with a minimum of laps made short work of the change from Triumph to Yamaha.
As in bicycle racing, a great rider needs a great crew, and Chaz is fortunate to have some of the best in the business. Their dedication was evident when, following a late afternoon session of testing, a crash left parts of Davies’ Yamaha scattered. Upon returning the damaged bike to the garage, the mechanics realized that the vital (and rather costly) control box was missing. A nighttime search of the track’s hinterlands ensued—by the light of mobile phones—and the missing part was found.
While racing for the world championship, Davies enjoyed taking his Tarmac for extended training rides, using the bike to stay physically and mentally prepared for the final series run. Also, he and some friends took in the Tour de France and left the event awe inspired.
The last chapters of the 2011 World Supersport championship were filled with drama, and Davies was faced with serious opposition for the title. A win in front of friends and family at Silverstone gave him a dose of added confidence.
As the championship closed shop at Magny Cours in France, Davies won the title, his first ever world championship. The win was well received in his hometown of Presteigne in Wales. He returned to a hero’s welcome, and was later stunned to learn that the locals had voted him as BBC Wales Sports Personality of the year.
For Davies, there will be a bigger challenge in 2012. He’s hanging his number one plate on the wall and moving up to a World Superbike ride. The season will see him on an Aprilia WSBK machine in all championship rounds, including the one at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah.