Chaz Davies’ deal with Ducati is going to expire and, obviously, somebody is already keeping an eye on him to start winning races in 2019. Who? Yamaha! The manufacturer based in Iwata invests even six million euros in WorldSBK (including support series), but so far they haven’t been able to compete with Kawasaki and Ducati. The contracts of the main WorldSBK riders (including Rea, Melandri and Sykes…) will expire at the end of this season and soon we will see the start of negotiations for 2019.
STEEL WELSH – Chaz boasts 29 victories in World Superbike and in the last few years he’s been the only real rival of Jonathan Rea. So it’s normal that many teams want to sign him for 2019. Andrea Dosoli, Yamaha Motor Europe Road Racing Project Manager, pretends that he doesn’t know anything: “Marco Melandri’s manager (Albergo Vergani, e.d.) asked us whether we’re negotiationg with Chaz Davies. I had already heard this rumor in the paddock, but actually we haven’t done anything yet.” According to other rumors, Yamaha is not satisfied with Michael van der Mark and Alex Lowes. Dosoli, of course, remains vague: “I can only say that our YZF-R1 has reached the top of development, now we think we can win“. It’s crystal clear: Yamaha needs a top rider, since van der Mark and Lowes haven’t won yet.
DUCATI – Also in Ducati they remain vague. “We have not started talking about 2019 season yet, but we should start soon” says Stefano Cecconi, Aruba.it CEO and Aruba.it – Ducati Team Owner . If he switched to Yamaha, Chaz Davies would give up the chance to ride the new Ducati V4, but he would jump on a four-cylinder machine that could make him able to win immediately. Assen Round will be very interesting, not just on the track…
Paolo Gozzi