The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team took it to the track in Magny-Cours (France) for the third-to-last round of the WorldSBK championship, scheduled for September 30 – October 2. At the end of the first two free-practice sessions, Chaz Davies stands firmly at the top of the time sheets. After posting the best time in FP1, the Welshman took four tenths of a second off during FP2 to clock a 1:37.836, a tenth faster than the previous best lap.
Davide Giugliano, hindered by severe pain in his right shoulder – which was injured in a crash during Race 2 in Germany circa two weeks ago – currently sits in 15th position. While post-race medical examinations ruled out fractures, the Italian rider suffered tendon-related issues since his first laps. Having stopped before the end of FP2, Giugliano has been undergoing treatment at Clinica Mobile and will decide whether or not to participate in Race 1 tomorrow morning.
Track action will resume at 08:45 (CET) Saturday for the third and last free-practice session ahead of Superpole and Race 1, which is scheduled to start at 13:00.
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7) 1st
“It’s definitely a good day when you get P1 in both sessions. This morning we’ve been chipping away and getting some feeling, working on the minor details of the bike. In the afternoon, we started exploring the setup a bit since it could be wet tomorrow. We’ve got down to a good lap time and we also managed to be consistent with used tyres, but towards the end of the session we went a little bit in the wrong direction and lost some grip in the long corners. All in all, we collected some good data for tomorrow and we should be OK if it’s dry, but anyway we’ll take it as it comes.”
Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #34) 15th
“Honestly, I didn’t expect to be in so much pain. The shoulder hurt a lot after the crash but, thanks to an intense physiotherapy program, I was able to recover quite quickly. I underwent treatment between FP1 and FP2 but, despite feeling some relief, the pain intensified as soon as I stepped back on the bike so, together with the team, we decided to take a temporary break. In these physical conditions it’s hard to be competitive in the dry, but in the wet I’d give it a try. At any rate, we’ll make a decision tomorrow morning.”
