Davies: Ducati delivering evolutions on V4 R

Chaz Davies feels with the Ducati V4 R still in its infancy development on the existing package will be key to his winter testing and preparations for the 2020 World Superbike championship.

Having felt he turned a corner at the Laguna Seca round this season, Davies is eager to take his surge in form into the winter tests ahead of a 2020 title attack for Aruba.it Racing Ducati. Davies notched up one win and six further rostrum finishes over the final five rounds of the season.

The Welsh rider says his team will focus on refining its V4 R package to find gains, having debuted the new bike this year, rather than widescale changes for 2020.

“We’ve got evolutions but as it is a one-year-old bike there are no big revolutions as such,” Davies told WorldSBK.com. “There is a lot of detail and the devil is in the details so we need to focus in on a lot of different points between now until the end of January.

“We have eight days of testing and there is a little bit in a lot of areas that can go a long way. So nothing revolutionary but enough to make a difference.”

Assessing his 2019 campaign, Davies was openly critical of his performances with the new Ducati over the opening half of the season, claiming just three rostrum results, before a stronger showing triggered by a breakthrough victory in Race 2 at Laguna Seca.

“Let’s face it, it was pretty terrible the first half of the year, and then the second half of the year was much better,” he said. “We really turned at corner at Laguna Seca and then from there to the end of the year our performance was pretty consistent.

“We were always fighting for the podium and the last three races we finished second three times and I think I scored more points than my team-mate since Laguna Seca so after the beginning of the year I don’t think anyone saw that turnaround.

“It is building blocks for 2020. There is a lot to be confident about and a lot to learn from this year and a lot to look forward to so I am optimistic.”

Davies is joined by Scott Redding at the factory Ducati squad for 2020 with Alvaro Bautista heading to the new-look Honda squad in the World Superbike championship.

The team gets its winter testing programme underway with a two-day test at Aragon next week before heading to Jerez for another two-day test towards the end of November.