Alcaniz (Spain), Friday 11 April 2014 – The Ducati Superbike Team kicked off the race weekend at Motorland Aragon with encouraging results. Riders Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano closed day one of timed practice in third and fifth position respectively.
In the first of the weekend’s three timed practice sessions, which took place late this morning in warm and sunny conditions (air temperature 21°C, track 28°C), Davies was immediately at ease on the Spanish track, one of his preferred circuits. His fastest lap of the session – 1’59.135 – placed him sixth at the end of the 45-minute session. Giugliano made a series of fast laps but lost a few minutes towards the end of the session as his technicians worked to improve the feeling during braking. The Italian rider nevertheless closed in seventh position, with a best time of 1’59.290.
The Ducati Superbike men were soon back on track for the second timed session of the day. Together with their technicians, both Chaz and Davide used the session to make small changes to their bikes, thanks to which feeling improved, allowing the pair to lower their times set in the morning by approximately half a second. At the end of day one, Davies closed in overall third position, thanks to a fastest time of 1’58.575 and Giugliano fifth (1’58.717). The team has more work to do tomorrow, particularly regarding race pace, but today nevertheless came to a positive close.
Quotes after the day’s sessions:
Chaz Davies (Ducati Superbike Team #7) – 3rd (1’58.575)
“The lap times picked up a little this afternoon but we still need to improve the front of my bike as I would like to have more stability. Having said that, today wasn’t too bad. My position is good but it doesn’t quite feel like we’re there with the bike just yet. Anyway we have more time tomorrow so we’ll continue to work to try to improve things ahead of Sunday’s races.”
Davide Giugliano (Ducati Superbike Team #34) – 5th (1’58.717)
“Today wasn’t the easiest day, we had a few problems. We’re close to those ahead of us anyway, despite the problems we’ve had, and so this is a positive sign. We didn’t spend so much time on track, working more in the garage. This afternoon we improved a little but we still have a few things to solve tomorrow, especially in terms of stability during braking.”
Ernesto Marinelli (Ducati Superbike Project Director)
“We’ve had a positive day. We still have some things to resolve, particularly with regard to the level of stability in the final stage of braking, as both riders are talking about movement and not having enough constancy during braking. So we will concentrate on solving this aspect tomorrow in order to find the best possible solution.”
Weekend schedule (CET):
Saturday
9.45 – 10.30 – SBK Timed Practice
12.30 – 13.00 – SBK Free Practice
15.00 – 15.15 – Superpole 1
15.25 – 15.40 – Superpole 2
Sunday
8.45 – 8.55 – SBK Warm-up
10.30 – SBK Race 1
13.10 – SBK Race 2
