The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team positively concluded a two-day test at the Misano (Italy) circuit, which was useful both to better prepare for the eighth round of the season – the second on home soil – scheduled for June 17-19 and to move forward with the development of chassis and electronics ahead of the second half of the championship.
Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano clocked 105 and 108 laps respectively on the Panigale R, making several comparisons and working to improve their base setups in race configuration, with an emphasis on consistency with used tyres. The rain that hit the track after the lunch break during the second day forced the team to cancel long-runs, but both riders left the circuit satisfied and confident about their next challenge.
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7) 1:35.485
“After so many races, it seems like a long time since our last test. It’s been definitely positive to have a couple of days to try things and ideas that can’t be tested on a race weekend. It’s a shame that the rain cut our track time short, but we’ve found a couple of good solutions for our base setup that should help us make another step forward, and this is the most important thing. At this point of the season, everyone is capable of getting up to speed quite quickly, even though these tests were clearly useful also to get better prepared for next race. Last year Misano wasn’t an easy weekend for us, so our goal is to make up for it in a couple of weeks’ time.”
Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #34) 1:35.510
“We were able to evaluate a couple of ideas, especially in terms of electronics, which turned out to be quite good. It’s always important to make in-depth tests on the base setup, because during the races the focus is on pure speed, and I believe we took another step in the right direction. I also tried a thumb-activated rear brake with positive feedback, even though I clearly still need to get adjusted to it. We’ve been progressively faster over the last few races, so our next goal is to have a whole weekend without any drops in our performance. Unfortunately the rain forced us to close shop early, but those two days were both important and productive ahead of the Misano round.”
