EXCITING CONTENT
At one time Chaz Davies ( GoEleven Ducati ) was a rider laden by superstitions , but one-by-one the hard-headed professional racer has managed to eradicate most of them . No mean feat as he comes from Wales , an ancient misty land of bards and Druids , with a full on fiery dragon its national flag . He still has a few touchstones and talismans , even if their significance now seems just to make him happy and bring back pleasant memories . “ I used to have quite a few superstitions but then I dropped them one-by-one ; there were some ridiculous ones .” Even now though , don ’ t ask him to travel to races without the Silver Dollar he was given by a fan in America before he won the double at Laguna Seca many years ago . He has also got a sackful of soft toys and other trinkets fans have sent him over the years , which used to travel around inside the little fridge inside his rider cabin on the side of the Aruba Ducati truck when he was a factory rider . “ Lucky charms I have quite a few of ,” confirmed Chaz . “ I have been quite lucky of the years that people give you these little gifts . I have got this little Buddha , a chilli pepper shaped keyring , Aussies gave me a little clip-on Koala bear . So things like that … I am not going to bin them ! But I don ’ t really feel they are lucky or things like that but they are nice little mementoes . I have plenty of them .” The superstitions he got rid of were multiple . With his old racing number in the smaller GP classes being 57 he used to brush his teeth for a minute and 57 seconds , for example . “ I used to button up my helmet at 57 seconds past whatever the time was , always associated around my number . But I dropped them all . Now I Just have a routine of putting my left glove on first , left boot on first , get on from the left side of the bike - always . That started off as a comfort thing but now it is just part of the process . Subconsciously , they are quite powerful and I know that sounds weird because they mean nothing , but if you feel you have a routine dialled , and your routine is consistent , there is a lot to be said for that . When you get on the bike it is like you have ticked every box ,” said Chaz . “ If you do not have that , are more sporadic , then you don ’ t have the satisfaction of saying , ‘ I have been through my routine ’ and that ’ s it .” Jonathan Rea ( Kawasaki Racing Team ) says , “ I do not have too many superstitious , it ’ s more habits now . I always put my left side on before my right , boots and gloves , but that ’ s about as Superstitious as I get . Year-to-year it changes too . One year I had to have a McDonalds every Wednesday before a round , about 2015 , because I did that before the first two races and did well . But current day , it is just left side before right - not that complicated .” Garrett Gerloff ( GRT Yamaha ) is almost superstition free , but is still a creature of habit in some regards - and religious too . “ I don ’ t have any good luck things that I do , I just don ’ t think about it ,” said Gerloff , although he also purposefully does not wear the same t-shirt / pants whatever for the next race after he has had a good results just prior to that . Is that an anti-superstition , however ? Debate that one yourselves . “ But as far as a routine , I always talk with my family before the weekend , and throughout , and then I pray before the race also . That ’ s about the only thing , but doesn ’ t have to do with luck .” Rookie Kohta Nozane ( GRT Yamaha ) always visits a shrine near to his home in Japan close to race weekend . If he is staying in Europe between races one of his family or his girlfriend goes there to pray for him before races . He also wears a special necklace all the time , even during races .
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