Superbikes news - Having Redding as a team-mate is 'big advantage', says Davies

Published 03/01/2020 at 10:15 GMT

Ducati's Chaz Davies is looking forward to having Scott Redding as his new team-mate - because the pair are a similar height and weight to each other.

Scott Redding of Great Britain celebrates

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British Superbike champion Redding comes into the team following Alvaro Bautista's move to Honda.

He will become Davies's fourth team-mate in six years - but one of a comparable height and weight, meaning their set-ups are likely to be similar.

Bautista was five inches smaller than Davies, and previous team-mate Marco Melandri was seven inches shorter.

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Alvaro Bautista of Spain and ARUBA.IT RACING-DUCATI heads down a straight during the WorldSBK GEICO U.S. Round - Qualifying at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on July 12, 2019 in Monterey, California.

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"I have no problems with Scott," Davies told Motorsport.com. "On the contrary, it is good for me to have a teammate who is as tall and heavy as I am.

"I haven't had this luxury for a long time, because in the past few years I've always had teammates who were significantly smaller than me. Davide [Giugliano] was the last teammate up until now who was not significantly smaller than me.

"I know Scott and we get along well. He's a funny guy. But I also got on well with Marco and Alvaro. I don't think it will be any different with Scott.

"But the best thing about being teammates with Scott is that he is the same size as me or even a bit bigger. That is a good advantage for me."

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Ducati team manager Serafino Foti added that the contrasting sizes of Davies and Bautista meant they were using different set-ups last season.

"Not only the size is similar, but also the weight," said Foti of Davies and Redding. "The size and weight of the riders are crucial, otherwise you have to take different paths.

"Alvaro's set-up was different from Chaz's. Alvaro weighed 56kg and Chaz weighs 70. It was therefore impossible to use the same set-up."

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