Arezzo/Borgo Panigale (Italy), Tuesday 19 May 2015 – The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team and riders Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano now travel on to the UK, and the historic Donington Park circuit, for round 6 of the 2015 Superbike World Championship.
At the most recent championship event, which took place at Imola in Italy just over one week ago, Giugliano enjoyed a very positive weekend in front of the ‘home’ crowd. Participating in his very first races of the 2015 season, the Italian reached the podium in race 1, crossing the line third, before concluding the second of the day’s races in fourth place. Davies unfortunately had a weekend to forget, unable to finish either race due to technical problems.
Now the Italian squad turns its attention to the British round where, in recent years, Chaz’s best result has been fifth, a result he scored in 2014, while Davide has finished races in fourth place in both 2013 and 2014. Giugliano, who has now resumed a more ‘normal’ training programme, will be hoping to consolidate his recent Imola results. Davies will be working hard to regain some of the ground lost at Imola and score as many championship points as possible in front of his home crowd.
Heading into the sixth of thirteen scheduled rounds, Chaz Davies lies fourth in the overall standings, having collected 123 points thus far. Davide Giugliano, having only participated in Round 5 at Imola, has 29 points and positions seventeenth. Ducati is third in the manufacturer’s standings with a total of 164 points.
Comments ahead of the event:
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #7)
“Last year we had a pretty average weekend at Donington. It’s always been a bit of a difficult one for me actually and I’d class it as similar to Assen, though having said that we did alright at Assen this year so I guess it’s a case of turning up and seeing what we can do. Anyway, it’s a home race for me so the extra support will be nice and my aim, as ever, will be to finish both races on the podium.”
Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #34)
“I really like the Donington track and we did well there last year, scoring pole position and fourth place in race 2, though I crashed in race 1 when my glove got caught up with the throttle. This week I’ve focused on training, as I want to get back in shape as soon as possible. Over just a few days I haven’t been able to do a great deal but I’ve already improved a little. The races keep coming, and I really suffered at Imola, so it’s important to return to competitiveness as quickly as possible. I’ll do my best to do well again this coming weekend…”
Circuit Information:
Country: UK
Name: Donington Park
Length: 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).
2014 RESULTS: Race 1 – 1. Sykes (Kawasaki); 2. Baz (Kawasaki); 3. Lowes (Suzuki). Race 2 – 1. Sykes (Kawasaki); 2. Baz (Kawasaki); 3. Guintoli (Aprilia)
Rider Information:
Chaz Davies
Bike: Ducati Panigale R
Race number: 7
Age: 28 (Born 10/02/1987 in Knighton, Wales)
Number of SBK races: 83
Number of wins: 5
Number of podiums: 20
Davies’ SBK track record at Donington
2014: Race 1 – 5th, Race 2 – 5th
2013: Race 1 – 8th, Race 2 – 6th
2012: Race 1 – 12th, Race 2 – 7th
Davide Giugliano
Bike: Ducati Panigale R
Race number: 34
Age: 25 (Born 28/10/1989 in Rome, Italy)
Number of SBK races: 81
Number of wins: 0
Number of podiums: 7
Giugliano’s SBK track record at Donington
2014: Race 1 – DNF, Race 2 – 4th
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