Chaz Davies (GoEleven Ducati) at the Barcelona Test – of course the Englishman now knows the Ducati Panigale V4R inside and out and in principle nothing speaks against him as one of the drivers who will start in 2021 except the past few years.

The best Ducati customer team before the first race of 2021

For a long time, Barni Ducati was considered Ducati’s second-best team and, judging by the performance of their drivers, they have often been in recent years. With the young Michael Ruben Rinaldi, however, the second Italian Ducati customer team in Aragon 2020 had the big hit. The plant from Borgo Panigale had given the young man from Rimini last year’s machine from vice world champion Alvaro Bautista, including technical support. The thirteenth in the World Championship thus achieved a victory and a podium on the second weekend in Aragon, making it one of the surprises of the season. However, the northern Italian competes for the Aruba.it Ducati factory team, but in his place the GoEleven team received a more than worthy replacement.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (left, on GoEleven Ducati) in a duel with Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) in Motorland Aragon – it was the most successful weekend for the Italian team in their history.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (GoEleven Ducati) in front of Maximilian Scheib, Sandro Cortese (both Kawasaki) and concealed Leon Haslam on the HRC Honda photographed by us on March 1, 2020 in Phillip Island (Australia).

The beginning of GoEleven with Ducati
After 8 years with Kawasaki, the team led by Gianni Ramello started in 2019 with Ducati and their new Panigale V4R. Their driver was Eugene Laverty, one of the best active pilots in WorldSBK. But as so often in the past, bad luck stuck to GoEleven Ducati too often on the heels of the Northern Irishman. Worst of all for the Northern Irishman in Imola, when his traction control had been deactivated, and he had crashed violently during training with a highsider. With a double wrist fracture, he did not come back until the fifth to last lap. When Eugene received an offer from BMW, the Italians signed Michael Ruben Rinaldi, a promising talent from their own country. With a win and a 7th place in the World Championship, the only 25-year-old became the best private driver.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Barni Ducati Racing Team) Photographed by us before the start in Aragon at the beginning of April 2019 – the Italian was already driving the Panigale V4R and finished 13th, 11th and 9th. A year later he competed at the same location on the previous year’s factory Ducati and became a sensation.

Spectacular transfer at the end of 2020
At the end of the season there was a spectacular change in which Rinaldi was appointed to the red factory team and Chaz Davies was transferred from there to GoEleven. Before that there was the wildest speculation and some hasty journalists wanted to report the Welshman to Aprilia as a new MotoGP teammate of Aleix Espargaró. Of course, this was all utter nonsense and behind the scenes it was only about details for his Ducati future. It took a long time before this was finally made official, but from then on it was clear that the Reds had not abandoned him because of his merits. Chaz was promised first-class material, and he is still one of those drivers who don’t have to bring any money to be allowed to drive.

It’s been a long time since Marco Melandri (left) and teammate Chaz Davies were introduced for GoldBet BMW in 2013. The previous year, the Welshman had won his first win on Aprilia and another three followed on the blue and white bike before switching to Ducati. For more on the earlier years of WorldSBK, see our richly illustrated history.

What can you expect from Chaz Davies and GoEleven Ducati for 2021?

In terms of material and experience, the Englishman and his team are among the favourites for the 2021 season. However, after Davies was clearly overshadowed by his teammate twice in a row, some observers are understandably rather sceptical. After all, he can start over as a private driver at the season opener on a track where he is the record winner with Aragon. He is currently leading with 7 wins ahead of arch rivals and Kawasaki ace Jonathan Rea with their six. After all, he was third in the World Cup last year and therefore still has to be counted among the wider circle of favourites. We believe in some victories and podiums that are quite possible for him, but not that he will win his first WSBK title of his career.

>Aragon preview: see separate report on this page.

Chaz Davies (right) hotographed by us at the fan autograph session with his teammate Alvaro Bautista in 2019, in Italy many people pronounce his name in a particularly original way, and it sounds like the German word “Schatz” for darling or treasure.

Unless otherwise stated, this applies to all images (© WorldSBK).