Borgo Panigale (Italy), Tuesday 20 May 2014 – the Ducati Superbike Team will be back on track this coming weekend for the fifth round of the 2014 Superbike World Championship, taking place at the historic British circuit of Donington Park.
The Donington Park racetrack, located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, has played host to the World Superbikes on twenty occasions since the championship began back in 1988. Factory riders Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano are looking forward to racing at what has proved to be a favourable track for Ducati Superbikes in the past, and Chaz in particular will be striving to do well at what is essentially his home racetrack.
Last season’s event saw Giugliano finish race 1 in sixth position, before battling with the leading group for the duration of race 2 to conclude in fourth position, his best Superbike result at Donington to date. Davies’ best result at the English track up until now was a sixth place finish, achieved during last year’s second race.
With regard to this season, and the most recent Imola round, results were positive, especially for Chaz who stepped up to the podium twice after having powered his 1199 Panigale to a second place finish in both of the day’s races. Davide, after a very strong performance in practice and qualifying, was unlucky come race day, crashing in race one and closing the second race in sixth place, also due to bike hopping issues.
After the first four rounds of the 2014 Superbike World championship, Davies is fifth in the general standings, with 87 points with Giugliano positioning seventh (69 points). Ducati lies fourth in the manufacturer’s standings with 113 points.
Comments ahead of the event:
Chaz Davies – Ducati Superbike Team #7
“I’m really looking forward to Donington after this weekend’s results, also because it’s always a buzz for me to race in front of the home crowd. I’ve had difficulty there in Superbike races in the past but, having said that, I was a lot faster at Imola than I was last season at the same track, so I am hoping the same applies at Donington. It’s another of those tracks that’s worked well for Ducati in the past, so I’m looking forward to getting started.”
Davide Giugliano – Ducati Superbike Team #34
“I really like Donington and it’s a track where I’ve been able to put together strong results in recent years. I hope that the testing we carried out on the Monday after Imola can help us this weekend. I really wanted to do better at Imola but it went like that; now we look ahead and concentrate on the upcoming races.”
Circuit Information
Country: UK
Name: Donington Park
Length of circuit: 4.023 km
Pole Position: left
Race distance: 23 laps/92.529 km
LAP RECORDS: Best lap – Sykes (Kawasaki) 1’28.074 (2013). Superpole – Sykes (Kawasaki) 1’27.378 (2013).
2013 RESULTS: Race 1 – 1. Sykes (Kawasaki); 2. Melandri (BMW); Guintoli (Aprilia). Race 2 – 1. Sykes (Kawasaki); 2. Guintoli (Aprilia); 3. Laverty (Aprilia)
Rider Information
Chaz Davies
Bike: Ducati 1199 Panigale
Race number: 7
Age: 27 (Born 10/02/1987 in Knighton, Wales)
Number of SBK races: 59
Number of wins: 4
Number of podiums: 12
Davies’ SBK track record at Donington:
2013: Race 1 – 8th, Race 2 – 6th
2012: Race 1 – 12th, Race 2 – 7th
Davide Giugliano
Bike: Ducati 1199 Panigale
Race number: 34
Age: 24 (Born 28/10/1989, Rome, Italy)
Number of SBK races: 63
Number of wins: 0
Number of podiums: 5
Giugliano’s SBK track record at Donington:
2013: Race 1 – 6th, Race 2 – 4th
2012: Race 1 – 7th, Race 2 – DNF
Weekend schedule (CET-1):
Friday
10.00 – 10.45 – SBK Timed Practice 1
13.45 – 14.30 – SBK Timed Practice 2
16.30 – 17.15 – SBK Timed Practice 3
Saturday
9.30 – 10.00 – SBK Free Practice
12.00 – 12.15 – Superpole 1
12.25 – 12.40 – Superpole 2
Sunday
9.00 – 9.15 – SBK Warm-up
12.00 – SBK Race 1
15.00 – SBK Race 2
