Davies' dream ride

Teenage star Chaz Davies will be handed the chance any young rider dreams about tomorrow, with a test of the new Ilmor X3 800cc MotoGP bike in Spain.

Despite agreeing to ride in the USA next year he is still in the frame for the ride full-time.

Davies will ride the bike at Jerez at the large MotoGP test currently underway in Spain, as the team say they will announce their rider line up after the test.

It was assumed Jeremy McWilliams and Andrew Pitt were all-but signed up, but owner Mario Illien told MCN that nothing official has yet been drawn up and that he will decide his final rider line-up at the end of this week at the earliest.

Davies, without a GP ride for most of this year after his 250 team was left with a funding shortfall, has agreed a ride in the US Supersport series with the Celtic Racing team he rode once for last year.

However MCN understands that the deal is at this stage a verbal one, and that Celtic’s bosses have given the OK to the Welsh star testing the new 800 – and they have said they would not stand in the way if a full-time MotoGP ride was offered.

Davies said: “I got a call at home from Ilmor asking for me to test the bike, and of course I was delighted to be given the chance. The team looks hugely professional and I’ve always made it clear that MotoGP is where I want my career to go.

“We have been looking at the Ilmor for some time, and it’s exactly the kind of team I would want to be involved with. There is a real buzz about the team that has people excited.

“It will be interesting to see what one of these 800s is like. I know that Andrew Pitt tested the bike and struggled because he is tall – but my background is 125s and 250s, where making yourself tiny on the bike is par for the course no matter your size, so I’m not worried about that.”

Davies has been targeted by MotoGP teams before, being linked with a Kenny Roberts ride when there was a chance they could run two bikes.