Imola (Italy), Friday 8 May 2015 – The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team has opened the Imola weekend in a positive manner, with Davide Giugliano finishing in third and Chaz Davies lying fourth after the first timed practice sessions of this fifth round of the 2015 Superbike World Championship.
Both factory riders started this important weekend in a determined fashion, making the most of today’s almost ideal conditions (air temperature 24°C, track 37°C) to work with their technicians on setting up their Ducati Panigale R bikes. In the opening timed practice session, and right from their first exits, Chaz and Davide were among the frontrunners, improving on performance lap after lap. The Italian rider’s performance in particular was impressive, considering that after three months of inactivity he was able to close session one in second place (with a best time of 1’48.275), with only his teammate Chaz ahead of him, at the top of the timesheets thanks to a fastest time of 1’48.056.
In the afternoon’s second session, Davies and Giugliano consolidated the morning’s positive start, further improving on lap times and seeming at ease on their home track. The riders concluded day one in overall third (Davide) and fourth (Chaz) position, results that bode well ahead of what will undoubtedly be two hard-fought races on Sunday.
Quotes after the day’s sessions:
Davide Giugliano – (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #34) – 3rd (1’47.582)
“I think I needed to ‘exorcise’ what happened to me at Philip Island and so I decided that giving 100% of myself today would be the best way to do that. The great thing is that I enjoyed myself and have found a highly performing bike, very different to the one I last rode in winter testing – a different bike, but positively so. Having said that, today’s only Friday and we’ve only completed a few laps; I’m feeling physically tired so now I’ll concentrate on resting in preparation for the coming days but overall I’m very pleased…”
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #7) – 4th (1’47.686)
“To be honest things aren’t feeling quite right. Although we’ve been quite consistent today, I’m still missing something in terms of feeling with my bike. There is no one particular thing but I’d like to make the bike a little smoother and have it turn a little better. Nothing major, and overall it’s been a positive Friday, but I know there is room for improvement tomorrow…”
Weekend schedule (CET):
Saturday
09.45 – 10.30 – SBK Timed Practice 3
12.30 – 13.00 – SBK Free Practice
15.00 – 15.15 – Superpole 1
15.25 – 15.40 – Superpole 2
Sunday
8.40 – 8.55 – SBK Warm-up
10.30 – SBK Race 1
13.10 – SBK Race 2
