The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team put on a show during Race 2 of the WorldSBK championship in Laguna Seca (USA). Davide Giugliano and Chaz Davies, together with Tom Sykes, engaged in a thrilling, fair battle in what turned into one of the most memorable races in recent times. At the end of a long series of passes, Giugliano finished in second position with Davies right behind him.
The Italian got off a strong start, taking the lead during lap 3 before the race was red flagged. At the restart, being first on the grid, Giugliano stayed at the front initially, while Davies climbed back from seventh position after being stuck in the group. The pair reconnected in the final phases of the race, putting up a spectacular duel in the last seven laps and exhanging positions several times before finishing second and third respectively, separated by only five tenths of a second.
After nine rounds, Davies and Giugliano are respectively third (260 points) and fourth (185 points) in the championship, while Ducati is second in the Manufacturers standings with 326 points. The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team will now observe a long break, during which development will continue with a detailed testing schedule, and will resume action in Lausitzring (Germany) on September 16-18 for the tenth round of the season.
Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #34) – 2nd
“What a fantastic race! I had so much fun, but it’s been difficult both physically and mentally, because it was paramount not to make mistakes while battling against Chaz. We’ve been both fair and I think we made it fun for people on track and at home. For me, to score a podium here is special because last year my season was put to an end in Laguna Seca and my career was almost destroyed. Yesterday was tough for the whole team, both Chaz and I crashed out while fighting for the podium with a good pace, but some small adjustments allowed us to make the most of our current potential. Now we’ll take a break but we won’t stop working to improve.”
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #7) – 3rd
“Today went a bit better. After what happened yesterday, I concentrated on finishing the race first of all, initially focusing just on my rhythm. I wanted to avoid being particularly aggressive early on, but I was stuck in the group at the start and had to ask a lot to the rear tyre to recover on Davide and Tom. I think we could have won today, but I went wide at the Corkscrew, possibly because of the wind, and in the last laps I didn’t have enough grip to try more overtakes. It was important to go into the break with a podium, and we’ll use this time to understand where to improve.”
Stefano Cecconi, Team Principal
“We needed a good result to make justice to our potential. Davide and Chaz had a wonderful race, with a hard but fair duel that kept us on our toes but hopefully entertained all our fans. The next round will be in September, but we won’t take long holidays because we already defined a testing program to keep growing as a team.”
