Ex-WorldSBK star Chaz Davies is already popping out of retirement…

Chaz Davies is returning to the track just four months on from announcing his retirement from racing after being called up to Ducati’s Endurance World Championship line-up for the Le Mans 24 Hours season opener.

The Welshman called an end to his competitive career at the conclusion of the 2021 WorldSBK Championship after a successful career that yielded 32 WorldSBK victories and a WorldSSP Championship title.

With a series of ongoing injury issues motivating the decision to take a step back from racing in favour of a new role at Ducati as a rider coach, Davies will nonetheless be back in his leathers later this month as part of the ERC Endurance Ducati team.

Replacing the injured Lorenzo Zanetti - who suffered a series of injuries in a serious accident during the CIV Italian opener at Misano - Davies will compete alongside David Checa, Xavi Fores and Marc Moser in the round-the-clock classic on 16 April.

“Lorenzo is still in hospital with a lot of broken bones and we are not sure if he can ride in Spa, but for Le Mans it will be Chaz Davies replacing him,” said ERC Endurance-Ducati CEO Uwe Reinhardt. 

“Chaz is an old Ducati factory rider so he has a lot of experience and I hope he can go for a podium, this would be very important.

“It’s very bad for Lorenzo because the Pre-Test was very successful, it’s very disappointing to lose him for this race but he’s a great team member and it was good that all the riders were at the same speed. But we talked for one hour with Chaz and he said, ‘okay, I want to ride’ and for him this is also a dream.”

Davies is the latest high-profile addition to the Le Mans event, following on from ex-MotoGP rider Bradley Smith, who was named with the MOTO AIN Yamaha squad earlier this month.