Chaz Davies

Chaz Richard Page Davies (born 10 February 1987) is a Welsh motorcycle racer primarily known for his career in the Superbike World Championship, where he finished three times as runner-up. In 2024, Davies was confirmed as a rider in the MotoE World Championship, an electrically powered race series.

Davies was the 2011 World Supersport champion and also the 2011 BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year.

Career Early career Davies started racing in the British Mini Moto championship in 1995, moving up to Junior Road racing in 1999. In the same season, he was given special dispensation at the age of 12 to take part in the Aprilia Challenge 125cc Championship. Davies finished sixth overall, and was the only rider to finish every race in a points scoring position. He set a new lap record at Donington Park National circuit, and was awarded 'Superteen of the Year'. He stayed with the series for a second year, and was runner up in the championship.

In 2001, Davies moved to the British 125 Championship, placing seventh after completing 8 of 13 rounds. Davies was the youngest winner of a British Championship race in July at Thruxton at the age of 14 years 5 months. Davies also contested all rounds of the Spanish National 125 Championship with the Telefonica Movistar team under the management of Alberto Puig. He was nominated for BBC "Young Sports Personality of the Year."

In 2002, management company Dorna Sports placed Chaz with Team Matteoni Racing to compete in the 125cc Grand Prix World Championship riding a kit Aprilia. Davies became the youngest rider to compete in a full season of GP Motorcycle racing.

From 2003, Davies rode for Aprilia Germany on the back of the consistent performance in his 125cc 'Rookie' season. In 2003, he became the youngest rider to score World Championship points in the 250cc class finishing 15th place in the Gauloises Africa's Grand Prix. For the 2004 season, still the youngest rider by two years, Davies finished 13th in the 250cc World Championship Classification out of the 36 regular starters scoring three top-ten results in the final three races of the season. Davies finished 2004 with a series of outstanding results on what was a customer kit level of bike, far inferior to those of the factory teams. He finished ninth in Malaysia, sixth in Australia and then backed it up with fifth at the final race in Valencia.

Davies again signed for Aprilia Germany for 2005 in hope that Aprilia would provide him with factory material after his strong end to 2004. With two top-ten results in Italy and Turkey, Davies again proved himself a consistent front runner within the non-factory machines but again failed to secure any type of factory backing. He finished the championship in 16th.

For the 2006 season, Davies was promised a semi-works Aprilia bike by the Campetella team, but this did not materialise after the team ran into serious sponsorship difficulties and Davies was forced to ride a series of privateer options. After Campetella replaced Davies for the Mugello round with a sponsored rider Franco Battaini due to financial difficulties, Davies secured a semi-works Honda ride for another team the 2006 British GP at Donington Park. He then rode a 600 cc Yamaha in the AMA Championship at Mid-Ohio; then finished out the season with a 250 cc ride at the closing Grand Prix of the year at Cheste, near Valencia.

AMA In 2007, Davies raced in the AMA Supersport Championship and Formula X-Treme Championship, racing a Yamaha for the Celtic Racing team. In 2008, he rode a Kawasaki for Attack Kawasaki. In early December 2007, Davies set the fastest times in two classes while testing at Daytona for the upcoming opening race of the 2008 AMA season. He was named winner of the 2008 Daytona 200 after original race winner, Josh Hayes, was disqualified for an illegal crankshaft. Davies became the first racer from the United Kingdom to win the prestigious race.

For 2009, Davies signed with KWS Aprilia to run in the all-new AMA Daytona Sportbike series, finishing the season with moderate success.

MotoGP World Championship In 2007, Davies made his MotoGP debut, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for Pramac d'Antin Ducati, riding a Desmosedici GP7 in replacement for the injured Alex Hofmann, who crashed in first practice. Already there for the supporting AMA round, Davies took over on an unfamiliar bike and track. Despite setting solid laptimes, he was overlooked for the following event at Brno, with Iván Silva replacing Hofmann.

On 28 September 2007, it was announced that Davies would replace Hofmann at the D'Antin squad for the final three rounds of the 2007 season. After failing to score in Phillip Island and Sepang, Davies was forced to pull out of the final race of the season in Valencia due to hand and wrist injuries sustained during the qualifying and practice sessions. Davies was offered a full-time testing role with Ducati for 2008, but he turned it down in favour of a return to AMA.

Supersport World Championship Davies made a switch to World Supersport late in the 2009 season for Triumph, remaining with them for 2010. He was consistently their fastest rider, scoring podium finishes at Valencia, Kyalami and Brno. After his Brno success, team manager Guiliano Rovelli commented "He is a tough bloke who always gives 110% and is now the best rider in Supersport". He came agonisingly close to a first class win at Imola – suffering a fuel pump failure while running third, just as leaders Kenan Sofuoglu and Eugene Laverty collided.

2011 saw Davies team switch to Yamaha machinery. After a disappointing start to his championship campaign with a puncture at the first race, Davies scored eight podiums with six wins on his way to securing the 2011 World Supersport Title.

Superbike World Championship

In 2012, Davies moved to the World Superbike championship to join ParkinGO MTC Racing Aprilia. After a highly impressive debut season, he finished ninth overall with four podium finishes, including one win.

For the 2013 season, Davies moved to the factory BMW Motorrad Goldbet team.

From 2015, Davies rode for the Aruba.it Ducati team. Davies announced his retirement from regular competition in September 2021.

Post Superbike Career From 2022, Davies was a rider-coach working with Ducati and Feel Racing, mentoring Alvaro Bautista and Michael Ruben Rinaldi in World Superbikes and Nicolo Bulega in Ducati's inaugural World Supersport season, riding the Panigale V-twin.

Davies intended to compete in the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race but was ill. He entered the 2023 event on an ERC Endurance Ducati with David Checa and Philipp Öttl, finishing fifth.

In 2024, Davies was confirmed as a rider in the MotoE World Championship, an electrically powered race series using Ducati series-specified machines.

Career statistics All-time statistics Series Years Races Poles Podiums Wins 2nd place 3rd place Fastest laps Titles 125cc 2002 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 250cc 2003–2006 55 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 AMA Formula Xtreme 2006–2008 22 0 4 1 0 3 0 0 AMA Supersport Championship 2006–2008 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 MotoGP 2007 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike 2009 20 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 World Supersport Championship 2009–2011 28 1 12 6 1 5 1 1 World Superbike Championship 2012–2020 237 7 98 32 37 29 36 0 MotoE World Championship 2024 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 418 8 116 39 40 37 37 1

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Pts 2002 125cc Aprilia JPNRet RSA21 SPA24 FRA18 ITA18 CATRet NED24 GBR16 GER20 CZEDNS POR11 BRA29 PAC24 MAL25 AUS22 VAL28 29th 5 2003 250cc Aprilia JPN18 RSA15 SPA18 FRARet ITA13 CATRet NED24 GBR13 GER12 CZE14 POR20 BRA9 PAC11 MAL12 AUS15 VAL13 14th 33 2004 250cc Aprilia RSARet SPARet FRA12 ITA17 CAT13 NED15 BRA13 GER12 GBRRet CZE8 POR16 JPNRet QAT16 MAL9 AUS6 VAL5 13th 51 2005 250cc Aprilia SPA11 PORRet CHNRet FRA12 ITA10 CATRet NED14 GBRRet GERRet CZERet JPNRet MAL12 QAT16 AUS11 TUR10 VAL16 16th 32 2006 250cc Aprilia SPA13 QAT17 TURRet CHN17 FRARet ITA CAT NED 32nd 3 Honda GBRRet GER CZE MAL AUS JPN POR VAL21 2007 MotoGP Ducati QAT SPA TUR CHN FRA ITA CAT GBR NED GER USA16 CZE SMR POR JPN AUSRet MAL17 VALDNS NC 0 2024 MotoE Ducati POR1 POR2 FRA1 FRA2 CAT1 CAT2 ITA1 ITA2 NED1 NED2 GER1 GER2 AUT1 AUT2 RSM1 RSM2 17th 35

AMA Formula Xtreme

Races by year (key) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos Pts 2006 Yamaha DAY BAR FON INF RAM MIL LAG M-O VIR RAT M-O8 45th 23 2007 Yamaha DAY4 BARRet FON4 INF28 RAM15 MIL3 LAG6 M-O3 VIR6 RAT6 LAG6 6th 206 2008 Kawasaki DAY1 BAR3 FON5 INF27 MILRet RAM6 M-O4 VIR6 RAT5 LAG5 5th 224

AMA Supersport Championship

Races by year (key) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos Pts 2006 Yamaha DAY BAR FON INF RAM MIL LAG M-O VIR RAT M-O5 40th 26 2007 Yamaha DAY8 BARRet FON8 INF4 RAM7 MIL9 LAGRet M-O VIR6 RATRet LAGRet 13th 145 2008 Kawasaki DAY4 BAR10 FON8 INF10 MIL9 RAM6 LAG15 M-O9 VIR11 RAT16 LAG4 6th 239

AMA Pro Daytona SportBike

Races by year (key)

Supersport World Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos Pts 2009 Triumph AUS QAT SPA NED ITA RSA USA SMR GBR CZE GER ITA4 FRARet POR7 20th 22 2010 Triumph AUS12 POR4 SPA3 NED4 ITA7 RSA3 USA4 SMR4 CZE3 GBR4 GER5 ITARet FRA3 4th 153 2011 Yamaha AUS18 EUR2 NED1 ITA1 SMR6 SPA1 CZE3 GBR1 GER1 ITARet FRA6 POR1 1st 206

Superbike World Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 Aprilia AUSDNS AUSDNS ITARet ITA14 NEDRet NEDRet ITAC ITA12 EUR12 EUR7 USA7 USA4 SMR6 SMRRet SPA4 SPA3 CZE11 CZE6 GBR14 GBR7 RUSRet RUS3 GER3 GER1 PORDNS PORRet FRARet FRA8 9th 164.5 BMW AUS4 AUS17 SPA1 SPA1 NED7 NED5 ITA5 ITARet GBR8 GBR6 POR6 POR5 ITA6 ITA5 RUS2 RUSC GBR10 GBRRet GER3 GER1 TUR8 TUR6 USA2 USARet FRARet FRA5 SPA7 SPA5 5th 290 Ducati AUS8 AUS7 SPA4 SPARet NED7 NED8 ITA2 ITA2 GBR5 GBR5 MAL4 MAL8 ITA4 ITARet POR18 POR3 USARet USADNS SPA3 SPA4 FRARet FRA9 QAT7 QAT5 6th 215 Ducati AUS3 AUS3 THA11 THA15 SPA2 SPA1 NED2 NED2 ITADNS ITARet GBR3 GBR3 POR3 POR4 ITA3 ITA4 USA1 USA1 MAL2 MAL1 SPA2 SPA1 FRA6 FRA2 QAT4 QAT2 2nd 416 Ducati AUS2 AUS10 THA4 THA3 SPA1 SPA1 NED2 NED5 ITA1 ITA1 MAL3 MAL4 GBRRet GBR3 ITA4 ITARet USARet USA3 GER1 GER6 FRA1 FRA1 SPA1 SPA1 QAT1 QAT1 3rd 445 Ducati AUS2 AUS2 THA2 THA6 ARARet ARA1 NEDRet NED3 ITA1 ITA1 GBR8 GBR3 ITARet ITADNS USA1 USA3 GER1 GER1 POR2 PORRet FRA10 FRA1 SPA2 SPA3 QAT2 QAT2 2nd 403 Ducati AUS3 AUSRet THA3 THA1 ARA2 ARA1 NED3 NED5 ITA2 ITA2 GBR8 GBR5 CZE8 CZE3 USA2 USA2 ITA2 ITA4 POR4 POR4 FRA5 FRA2 ARGRet ARG4 QAT7 QATC 2nd 356

Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos Pts R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 Ducati AUS AUS AUS THA THA THA SPA SPA SPA NED NED NED ITA ITA ITA SPA SPA SPA ITA ITA ITA GBR GBR GBR USA USA USA POR POR POR FRA FRA FRA ARG ARG ARG QAT QAT QAT 6th 294 Ducati AUS AUS AUS SPA SPA SPA POR POR POR SPA SPA SPA SPA SPA SPA SPA SPA SPA FRA FRA FRA POR POR POR 3rd 273 Ducati SPA SPA SPA POR POR POR ITA ITA ITA GBR GBR GBR NED NED NED CZE CZE CZE SPA SPA SPA FRA FRA FRA SPA SPA SPA SPA SPA SPA POR POR POR ARG ARG ARG INA INA INA 12th 143