Arezzo/Borgo Panigale (Italy), Tuesday 16 June 2015 – The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team is preparing for round 8 and its second home event of the 2015 World Superbike season, taking place this coming weekend at the Misano World Circuit. Factory riders Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano will be joined by Luca Scassa who participates as a wildcard entry.
At the latest Portimao round, both factory riders reached the podium with Chaz finishing third in race 1 and Davide closing race 2 in second place, consolidating the positive trend seen at recent events. Now the Aruba Ducati riders are aiming for the podium once more, with the added incentive to do well in front of the home crowd. In the past, Giugliano won his Stock1000 race at Misano in 2011, also obtaining a podium finish in SBK in 2012. Davies’ best result has been a fourth place scored in last year’s first Superbike race. Scassa has not raced at Misano for five years, with his best result an eighth place finish in 2010.
There was a degree of bad luck in 2014 unfortunately, with Chaz crashing in race 2 and a ‘ride through’ penalty for Davide after he made a jump start in that same race. This means that the riders are even more determined to achieve positive results at the Italian track this year. Seven rounds into the championship and the general classification sees Davies in fourth position with 184 points, Giugliano eleventh with 73 points and Ducati second in the manufacturer’s championship (232 points).
Comments ahead of the event:
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #7)
“I’m looking forward to the weekend as I love racing in Italy, though hopefully the weekend will bring more success than we had in Imola. Last year’s first race at Misano went pretty well and I finished fourth, having battled for a podium, but unfortunately in race 2 I made a mistake and crashed. The track has recently been resurfaced, so this should help with the grip situation which is always critical in Misano, especially with what are generally very high temperatures. Let’s say I’m optimistic going into the weekend and plan to fight for podium finishes or better.”
Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #34)
“Now we return to race in Italy where there are always so many of our fans who come to watch the racing, something that really makes a difference to me and my team. I really like the Misano track and last year we were able to be very fast but then in the races we were rather unlucky… Let’s hope that the bad luck is a thing of the past and that we are able to complete two great races in front of the home crowd.”
Luca Scassa (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #99)
“The weekend is finally approaching. The Misano track is one of those that has given me great emotions in the past and can hopefully do the same in the future. I’ve trained hard in recent days, so as to arrive at the track as prepared as possible. It will be a weekend of hard work, but I feel more at ease with each lap I make on the Panigale and hope that the feeling continues to improve so that I am able to record some good lap times. This weekend is a first step towards returning to the levels of several years ago…”
Circuit Information:
Country: Italy
Name: Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
Length: 4.226 km
Pole position: right
Race distance: 21 laps / 88.746 km
RECORDS: Best lap – Sykes (Kawasaki) 1’35.629 (2014). Superpole – Sykes (Kawasaki) 1’34.883 (2014).
2014 RESULTS: Race 1 – 1. Sykes (Kawasaki); 2. Baz (Kawasaki); 3. Melandri (Aprilia). Race 2 – 1. Sykes (Kawasaki); 2. Baz (Kawasaki); 3. Melandri (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: 87
Number of wins: 5
Number of podiums: 23
Davies’ SBK track record at Misano
2014: Race 1 – 4th, Race 2 –DNF
2012: Race 1 – 6th, Race 2 – DNF
Davide Giugliano
Bike: Ducati Panigale R
Race number: 34
Age: 25 (Born 28/10/1989 in Rome, Italy)
Number of SBK races: 85
Number of wins: 0
Number of podiums: 8
Giugliano’s SBK track record at Misano
2014: Race 1 – 8th, Race 2 – 9th
2012: Race 1 – 3rd, Race 2 – DNF
Luca Scassa
Bike: Ducati 1199 Panigale
Race number: 99
Age: 31 (Born 23/08/1983 in Arezzo, Italy)
Number of SBK races: 57
Number of wins: 0
Number of podiums: 0
Scassa’s SBK track record at Misano
2010: Race 1 – 11th, Race 2 – 8th
2009: Race 1 – DNF, Race 2 – 20th
Weekend schedule (CET):
Friday
11.15 – 12.00 – SBK Timed Practice 1
15.00 – 15.45 – SBK Timed Practice 2
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
