Chaz back to his best.

I laugh when everyone keeps saying Chaz has done well.
Poor qualifying at both previous events, running outside the points, and then retirement (the latter not his fault of course).
Let's see how he does at Valencia but right now he doesn't strike you as a MotoGP rider.

Chaz had one test & three GP's just to get comfortable with the bike and tyres, learn and adapt his style from 250 privateer \ AMA supersport to MotoGP. Nicky Hayden took 2 or 3 seasons as a works Honda rider to stop crashing & start getting decent results. Some people are lucky enough to be given the breaks & be nurtured along the way, whilst others have to work their balls off on privateer kit for little or no reward for several seasons before they even get a sniff of a break.

Do you expect Chaz to be running the same race pace as Stoner, Capirossi or Barros? Yes it is basically the same package but they have had almost twelve months of testing, racing and refining the "package" to suit their styles. And if just one small part of the equation is slightly off, then they find themselves way down the order no matter who they are (ask Rossi).

I hoped Chaz would be getting better results but in all honesty what other rider on this planet who has no prior MotoGP experience could do any better under the same circumstances? Good luck for Valencia Chaz.

Thanks DavyJones for your comment - it makes such a refreshing change from the juvenile - "rider a is better than rider b because his bike looks nice in yellow" nonsense that you have to put up with on these comments pages. Any of those guys on those bikes deserve to be there. Us armchair fans can only dream of being them. Let's give them all credit for being at the pinnacle of their sport.

Well done and so true!

Good luck Chaz for Valencia!

Andsom

I think T-Bone has a point.

When Davies rode the D'antin bike in Laguna he was surprisingly fast, competing the lap times of Barros/ Edwards/ Nakano etc. I think everybody expected him to be a very fast contender.

But not in P.I. and neither in Sepang, he could impress. He sticks at the back of the field. Sure, he has never tested the bike and raced 13 races less than the others, but the same sort of situation happened with West. Antony immediatly went fast and settled in the midgroups. And I'm pretty sure West ain't an natural boy.

Riding/ adapting a RC212V is not so difficult, because of the very smooth character it has. Everybody who steps on is immediatly on the pace!!

Really Plaggie?

Checa and Nakano seem to struggle on the RC212V, explain that for me please?
Chaz got a lot of credit but it will be over soon, a testing role maybe,
that's all.

I think T-bone has a point too.
Any rider really has to seize such chances they dont often come along.
Westy did just that and surprised people. So he ended up with a works Kawasaki ride.
Vermeulen a couple of years ago was around the top ten on a Honda ride and so got the Suzuki gig.
It is a lot to expect any rider to come in first time and pull out a result or two but that is what is needed to get the chances.
Chaz has not done enough to prove he has what it takes. Harsh but real world.

Yes Morgue, I will.

I do think that riding/ adapting is less difficult then ik was on a 500cc/ MotoGP bike. Plenty of reasons to believe that. (for example the many riders who said the 800cc bikes are much easier to ride and handle.)

About your point of Checa/ Nakano: there struggling to find the contact with the leaders. They are struggling, because of a 'not so competative' Honda and the Michelin tyres. But still they're quite on the pace. Just not fast enough to do a good job, but this doesn't say nothing about the handling of a 800cc bike.

Look at West for example. He immediatly went fast on the kawasaki. Fighting in the midpack!

continu.....

and also Duhamel/ Fabrizio/ Nieto were having contact with the group immediatly. In my opening Davies is not doing any better than the riders I just described and being fast enough to battle with the Tech3 Yamaha's during a race doesn't really impress me.

It is hard for the fans, but I don't believe in the talents of Davies. He just doesn't show it!

fukcing hell whats he supposed to do????? He's never tested, worked with the team, engineers, tyres, or anything else. He's ridden the tracks, but thats not much help on a bike like nothing else he's ridden before. Results haven't set the world alight, but, I think the pace he's demonstrated at times does make him worthy of some time to see what his full potential is.

I don't get your point Plaggie when you say
"Riding/ adapting a RC212V is not so difficult, because of the very smooth character it has. Everybody who steps on is immediatly on the pace!!"

Chaz Davies isn't riding a Honda, he's riding a Ducati. And as for the 212V being "on the pace" immediately, why then did Carlos Checa, a man with vast experience of riding
GP bikes for over 10 years say "This was my worst bike ever" about the 212V?

Anthony West *has* gone fast and competed well on the Kawasaki and good on him, but have you seen how much time (of the limited time he's had) Chaz has spent in the pits waiting on the D'Antin bike being fixed cos this or that isn't working? Nearly half!

Remember Chaz is only 20-years-old and the youngest rider on the MotoGP grid. West, the only other rider to come into MotoGP mid-season (with MotoGP's most up-and-coming factory team!!), is 26. That's a big difference. I wouldn't make any sweeping judgements about Chaz's potential for a good few years yet.

I really like Chaz - he's a nice lad, mature & professional. He was in the right place at the right time in Laguna, and performed better than expected. That got him the Hofmann ride but also boosted expectations - which were not met in Philip Island & Sepang.
I hope he delivers in Valencia, but as some say here, has to pull something out of the hat. Yes, it's very little time on the bike but he is trying to join an elite club of the best 20 riders in the world & to succeed has to show he is 'special'.
I hope he takes the testing role, gets really familiar with the bike, & pulls off a couple of good wildcard races in 2008 to get on some lists. After a taste of the big game, AMA is 3rd rate.

Unless your an insider (within Ducati,Bridgestone, Pramac D'Atain) how can one say with any certainty how he's performed? Unless you are privy to the bikes state of tune, the setting of electronics, tyres and suspension s. etc. you're speculating with a decided lack of requisite information.
The guy has had probably less than 100 hours on the bike to familiarise himself and pass on to his crew information about the bike to improve it.

Buelliful, with the riding/ adapting part I want to say the following:

insiders said the 800cc bike is easier to ride and to handle than the 990cc. How I know this? well, where haven't it been said on the net? on every possible site I believe. Riders like Pedrosa, Elias, Rossi, Melandri ect. al said the 800 is riding smoother and is more friendely to its rider. This are just facts, nothing else. And when everybode says the bike is easier to handle, why don't believe it?

I see your point about Checa. In my opinion, his recent form has nothing to mean with the handling/ controlling of the 800. It's just a combination of tyres and the satelite Honda which setup probable won't be so good.

It's difficult to say it as clear as possible........

But when Checa is not able to setup his bike correctly, doesn't say nothing about the 800 bike in central.

For example, look at F1. Every unexperienced rider can perform well in a Ferrari or Mc.Laren can be up front. Just because it ride more smooth throuhg the years.

When Davies would have ridden an 990 or an 500cc bike, I wondered were he would have finished these days....

Thats al I'm gonna say about it. It's a British forum and there are a lot of fans of Davies. So I won't heat up the coles...

by the way, I'm Dutch. It explains my bad English

Will... great post. I am an insider.
Barros has recently done an article in a Brazilian magazine. He confirmed that after his podium at Mugello Ducati told him he would NEVER get close to the "official" team again. Chaz did well at Laguna (the team just let him run on what they had) & again at Mugello. (Belive me very well) At more "controlled" enviroments i.e PI & Sepang things were notso smooth! Chaz is last in the line as far as Ducati, Bridgstone, D'antin go. Look at lap times from Sepang . 21 laps within 0.5 secs of each other. This imo shows thats about as good as it got. T=bone you havent got a clue

Just a pity those 21 laps were on average about 3 to 5 seconds off the pace.

I wonder where 'Chaz' got his name from? Presumably in a moment of lust (during his conception), his ****ney father fantasised about the ultimate name to call his son, and duly named him after - British comedy duo 'Chaz & Dave'.

Why didn't I think of that?

Chaz or Valentino. Chaz sure sounds exotic and almost romantic I think (if you live in Romford), whilst comparitively, Valentino sounds like someone who works in a call centre and owns 14 stolen mobile phones.

'C0ckney' is censored? Strange, it's someone who lives in a certain area of London and speaks with a highly superior and softly spoken accent.

Before any of you nay sayers talk about my boy Chaz maybe you should be informed by the guy who rode the bike Alex Barros himself. there is an article on the wsmc unofficial site that will make all of you eat your words for the stupid comments you make. Now this may take a few post's and repost to get the gist of the article so her goes an if you really want to know go sign up for the forum.

Q: Your Ducati, when compared to the ones in the official team, is it too different?
AB: The bike is the same, but the teams are a different deal. All I have to tell you is that I didn't have a suspension technician. Throughout the season, I suffered with the lack of setup. cont'd