Davies: 2018 the "perfect time" for MotoGP switch

A WSBK regular since 2012, Davies joined Ducati in 2014 and established himself as one of the leading riders of the championship.

He was runner-up behind Kawasaki's Jonathan Rea in 2015 and enjoyed an even more successful season last year with 11 wins, even though he was only third in the standings.

During the 2016 season, Davies expressed an interest to join MotoGP with a team such as Ducati's satellite Pramac squad, and the Welshman backed this up during Ducati's WSBK launch.

Celebrating his 30th birthday on Friday, Davies reckons it would be a perfect time to be in MotoGP next year, as he feels he is now the fastest rider in World Superbike.

"Yeah for sure, if I reach my goal of becoming Superbike World champion, I think that now is the perfect time to go to MotoGP because I am nearly 30 years old," said Davies, who has three MotoGP races under his belt from 2007 with Pramac.

"I don't want to leave it too late and obviously an important thing for me as a rider is you want to challenge yourself and I feel like I'm the fastest rider in Superbike.

"The next challenge is the riders of MotoGP. Maybe I'm shit [in comparison to them], I don't know, we'll see.

"Everybody looks at the young guys in MotoGP, but I know I am a much better rider than I was even two years ago - let alone five or 10 years ago. I'd love the opportunity and I think these years in my career are the best time."

Top WSBK riders moving up to MotoGP has become a regular pattern in recent years, with the likes of Cal Crutchlow, Loris Baz or Eugene Laverty having all made the switch - although Laverty returns to Superbikes this season with Aprilia.

More consistency needed to beat "lucky" Rea

Regarding his chances of winning the WSBK title this year, Davies said he needs to make less mistakes, having failed to finish in the top five on five occasions last year, compared to Rea's two.

He also added he needs more luck on his side, as he feels Rea got away with "two or three big mistakes" without retiring.

"[I need] consistency and less zero point finishes," said Davies, "also a little bit of luck sometimes.

"In the past Jonny [Rea] made some big mistakes in the races but stayed on the bike. That can change the season so quickly.

"In the last two seasons [he made] two or three big mistakes every year, so I think in some cases you need a little bit of luck. But I feel ease with what I have at the moment."

He added: "I feel very comfortable with the package and everything, I didn't crash for many months, not because I'm totally perfect with the bike, and I think that is really important for the consistency.

"I think the target on my back is big, but I am not the world champion. [Being] world champion is my target, and I think the biggest reference for everybody is Jonny, because he is a double world champion now."

Additional reporting by Matteo Nugnes