Magny-Cours (France), Saturday 3 October 2015 – The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team and riders Chaz Davies and Luca Scassa were back at the French circuit of Magny-Cours today for the final timed practice and Superpole sessions.
In the morning’s final timed practice, Chaz found a good rhythm and was able to remain close to the top of the timesheets for the session’s duration. Finding an extra tenth of a second in the closing stages, the Welshman qualified for Superpole 2 in second position thanks to a best lap completed in 1’37.938.
Together with his technicians, Luca continued the set-up work on his Panigale R and was also able to improve on his best time set yesterday, scoring a fastest lap of 1’38.766 to finish the practices in overall eleventh position, thus qualifying for entry into Superpole 1.
Superpole 1: Superpole took place in wet conditions with riders having to deal with persistent rain. Scassa immediately took to the track, positioning himself behind Camier to make a couple of laps in order to get a better idea of the track conditions. Continuing to build confidence throughout the 15-minute session, Luca lowered his times lap after lap, recording a best of 1’58.131 in the final seconds; a time that guaranteed him overall first place and, therefore, access to Superpole 2.
Superpole 2: In the second session both Chaz and Luca were setting some fast lap times right from the outset. Davies, while completing his fast lap, unfortunately suffered a small crash at turn 15, just a few minutes from the session’s end. Straight after this, when Lowes also crashed, a red flag brought the session to a brief halt. Davies’ mechanics did all they could to fix his bike in record time, sending the Welshman back out on track with just over two minutes left on the clock. Unfortunately however Chaz did not have enough time to complete a further lap, meaning that he closed the session in overall fourth position (1’57.049). Scassa, despite making a few small mistakes, managed the situation well, also avoiding contact with Haslam at the session’s end and closing in overall sixth place, thanks to a fastest time of 1’57.991. Both Aruba Ducati riders will line up on the second row for tomorrow’s two 21-lap races.
Quotes after the day’s sessions:
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #7) – 4th (1’57.049)
“Superpole went fairly well considering. I was forced a bit wide going into the final corner and had to brake a little too hard causing me to crash, which was a bit of a shame as I think we were on for a fast lap. Anyway, fourth isn’t bad; I actually expected worse, because in these conditions anything can happen and you can fall behind. The position is good actually, as it means I’m behind pole on the outside heading into turn 1. As for the races, I think it should be dry tomorrow and we have good pace; we’ll just have to see whether it’s good enough to be able to take a win…”
Luca Scassa (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #99) – 6th (1’57.991)
“I’m very happy with sixth as a result. I hadn’t ridden in the rain for five years and so it was all new, a new bike and in wet conditions. In Superpole 1 I decided to follow Englishman Camier to gain a little confidence. I made my fastest lap right at the end of the session, despite having limited visibility due to a fogged-up visor. In Superpole 2 I had more confidence, having already completed the first session. I made a couple of mistakes, but for me it was important to do as well as possible while keeping calm and trying to avoid a crash. I’m really pleased with the result and hope we can continue like this tomorrow.”
