Like a phoenix from the ashes, Chaz managed to turn this weekend’s leg of the WorldSBK championship in to a nail biting face off with the current leader Jonathan Rea. After missing a considerable amount of the first practice session due to technical issues, Chaz’s confidence took a hit due to lack of testing on the tyre wear.

Despite the difficulties in practice, Chaz managed to come back with astonishing pace to lead Race 1 after a spectacular fight with Rea, even setting a new track record. Whilst in the final stages of the race and managing a temperamental bike, Chaz crashed out in turn 16 after losing the front of the Ducati, narrowly missing severe injury.

"After having missed FP1, we knew we were a bit behind in figuring things out so today I just wanted to do my race. I was trying to keep Rea at bay, passing him each time I had the opportunity to do so, but with five laps to go I started to feel that the bike was a bit more nervous and harder to manage in corner entry, and the weight was coming on and off the front. That’s what happened in the last corner, it locked without much warning and I lost the front. I was lucky to escape without injuries. Tomorrow we’ll try to get a good start and see if we can make our way to the front again. We want to win races"

After a frustrating start to the weekend, Chaz had to put his all in to Race 2 to maintain his overall position. Starting in tenth, Chaz quickly stormed back through the field, already joining the leading group on lap 3. The Ducati rider followed Rea until lap 12, where he managed to grab the lead. The final laps resulted in a spectacular series of passes between Davies and Rea, only for Chaz to make the decisive move at the last chicane.

The Ducati team took its first win of the season in Race 2 of the 2017 WorldSBK Championship at Aragon (Spain) thanks to a brilliant performance by Chaz, bouncing back from previous DNF, claiming his sixth victory at the Spanish track and 21st of his career.

"The whole weekend has been difficult, from start to finish, so it was really important to cap it with a win, especially after yesterday’s disappointment. We were confident our bike would be fast at Aragon, but it wasn’t easy at all out there today and our main rivals seem relatively comfortable so we know there’s still work to do in many areas. Today we suffered a bit with grip early on. Also, the wind was really strong. It kept pushing me away from corners and in the last lap I got caught by a gust going into turn 5 and I missed a backshift, going a bit wide, but we still managed to finish in front. We’re competitive but it’s still not enough, so we need to keep working to improve. Tomorrow’s test will be very important for us but, for now, we’re going to enjoy this victory"

Chaz remains in 2nd place overall, behind Leader Jonathan Rea. The next race will be hosted at the TT Assen Circuit in the Netherlands on 28th - 30th April.