Jerez de la Frontera (Spain), Friday 27 November 2015 – The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team has concluded the season positively with a three-day test at the Spanish circuit of Jerez, where the team was complete once more with Davide Giugliano making his return after a four-month break.
Favourable weather conditions allowed the riders and team to fully exploit the available track time, successfully completing all of the scheduled work and establishing solid bases for next season ahead of the winter break. Davies and Giugliano completed a total of 177 and 169 laps respectively, carrying out various comparative tests and evaluating the latest updates developed for the Ducati Panigale R in its 2016 Superbike configuration.
Both riders provided positive feedback regarding the chassis and engine and appreciated the new electronics strategies. A great deal of work was also done with the new Öhlins forks, which have provided greater stability and riding precision. For Davide Giugliano this was also a first opportunity to meet with his new crew chief Aligi Deganello and electronics engineer Paolo Biasio, working intensely with them both over the three days.
The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team will return to the tracks on 22-23 January at the Portimão circuit in Portugal for the opening tests of the 2016 season.
Comments at the end of testing:
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #7), 1’40.774
“Fortunately the weather has been kind to us this time, so we’ve been able to carefully evaluate the new components and start work on the setting. Compared to last week at Aragón, we’ve come to some important conclusions. The new materials represent a step forward. The new fork in particular gives a more detailed, direct feedback. Despite the different weather conditions, we were also able to work with the configurations used in the September races, making some very useful comparisons. We concentrated on rhythm, and I was able to maintain a pace in line with my best time made on the race tyre.”
Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #34), 1’41.047
“The outcome is very positive. The Panigale R has improved during my absence and so logically it has also changed. First of all, I wanted to find the automatisms and adapt myself to the bike in its current configuration before starting to work on a base setting. I’ve also met my new team, and it’s definitely exciting to work with people of such calibre. We concentrated on pace, considering that raw speed hasn’t been an issue in the past, carrying out solid work on used tyres. From a physical point of view, it went better than I expected though my arms did suffer a little. Up until now I’ve only been able to do some rehabilitation and training in the pool, but I’ll now start following a more structured training programme in order to be fully fit for the first tests of 2016.”
