Borgo Panigale (Italy), Tuesday 17 June 2014 – The Ducati Superbike Team is back in Italy for round 7 of the championship, taking place this weekend at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.
The Misano racetrack, located alongside the coastal town of Misano Adriatico, about 140km from the Ducati factory in Borgo Panigale, has hosted the Superbikes on numerous occasions and is another track where the Ducati Superbike team, and riders Davide Giugliano and Chaz Davies, can count on local support.
Just a few weeks ahead of World Ducati Week, scheduled to take place at the same Misano circuit from 18 to 20 July, the Ducati Superbike Team prepares for its second home race of the 2014 season. The Superbikes took a hiatus from the Misano World Circuit last year but in 2012 Giugliano stepped up to the podium, having finished third with his Ducati 1198. Davies scored a sixth place finish that same year.
At the latest Malaysian round of the championship, the day’s races, held in extremely hot and humid conditions, proved challenging for the team. Davies narrowly missed out on a podium in race 1, powering his 1199 Panigale to a fourth place finish, before closing race two in eighth position. Giugliano, unfortunately suffering from flu and fever, battled his way to eighth and tenth place.
Heading into this seventh round, Chaz is sixth in the championship standings followed by Davide, seventh. Ducati lies fourth in the manufacturer’s championship.
Comments ahead of the event:
Chaz Davies – Ducati Superbike Team #7
“I had a difficult weekend at Misano in 2012 as we made a big change to the bike overnight before the race. I ended up racing fairly well, despite a crash, though to be honest I haven’t had the best experiences at Misano until now. Having said that, it’ll be nice to race in Italy again, and there should be a lot of local support. It could be a good track for the Panigale, with some tight corners, although as we saw in Sepang our main problem right now is maintaining grip in high temperatures. So we’ll be working hard to improve edge grip over the weekend in order to be ready for the races.”
Davide Giugliano – Ducati Superbike Team #34
“I was feeling pretty ill when we got back from Sepang and needed some days to recover, but I’m doing ok now thankfully… Looking ahead to this weekend, Misano is a track that I really enjoy. We haven’t raced there for a while but I have good memories of 2012 when I stepped up to the podium in the company of Biaggi and Checa. It’s a good track that should suit the Panigale, but we’ll have our work cut out if we want to be as prepared as possible for Sunday’s races.”
Circuit Info
Country: Italy
Name: Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
Length of circuit: 4.226 km
Pole Position: right
Race distance: 21 laps/88.746 km
LAP RECORDS: Best lap – Checa (Ducati) 1’36.080 (2012). Superpole – Corser (BMW) 1’35.001 (2010).
2012 RESULTS: Race 1 – 1. Biaggi (Aprilia); 2. Checa (Ducati); 3. Giugliano (Ducati). Race 2 – 1. Biaggi (Aprilia); 2. Rea (Honda); 3. Haslam (BMW)
Rider Info
Chaz Davies
Bike: Ducati 1199 Panigale
Race number: 7
Age: 27 (Born 10/02/1987 in Knighton, Wales)
Number of SBK races: 63
Number of wins: 4
Number of podiums: 12
Davies’ SBK track record at Misano:
2012: Race 1 – 6th, Race 2 – DNF
Davide Giugliano
Bike: Ducati 1199 Panigale
Race number: 34
Age: 24 (Born 28/10/1989, Rome, Italy)
Number of SBK races: 67
Number of wins: 0
Number of podiums: 5
Giugliano’s SBK track record at Misano:
2012: Race 1 – 3rd, Race 2 – DNF
Weekend schedule (CET):
Friday
11.45 – 12.30 – SBK Timed Practice 1
15.30 – 16.15 – SBK Timed Practice 2
Saturday
9.45 – 10.30 – SBK Timed Practice 3
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
