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The challenge for the world title is on, but the market is holding center stage. The Superbike is ready to enter the second phase of the season with negotiations. Among the official teams that are buys in planning 2022, there’s only Honda. With the return of Alvaro Bautista to Ducati, HRC needs to find a replacement for next year.
While waiting to understand what Leon Haslam’s fate is going to be, since his contract is about to expire, they need to find who will pick up the baton left by Bau Bau. The first name that comes up is that of Chaz Davies, who most likely won’t continue with Go Eleven.
After eight years with Ducati, Chaz seems destined to end his journey with the Borgo Panigale company. At the moment, there are no vacancies on the official teams, with the exception of Honda. The CBR 1000 RR-R would, therefore, be the most concrete hypothesis from which to start again considering, among other things, the close relationship that binds Chaz to Leon Camier, who has been appointed team manager as of this year.
So Davies could consider the possibility of racing with Honda, trying to give new life to the Superbike project, despite his turning 34 on February 10th.
If, on one hand, Chaz could put his experience at the service of HRC, on the other, they can’t exclude the possibility of relying on a younger rider. And that’s where Swiss rider Dominique Aegerter – who’s about to turn 31 on September 30th – comes in. Honda knows him well, since he participated in several Endurance races in the past, and was also called to be a test rider for HRC in 2020. Too bad that this last experience didn't go in the right direction, given that COVID slowed down the development of the CBR 1000 RR-R, denying the Swiss rider to be able to test one on the track.
Currently leader of the SSP World Championship, Dominique remains one of the riders HRC is interested for next season. His name is also accompanied by Iker Lecuona’s, dumped along with Petrucci from KTM Tech3. The Spanish rider ended up on the team’s radar, even if his priority remains that of not leaving the MotoGP paddock. Obviously, an offer from an official team could reshuffle the cards.
