The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team resumed action in Jerez de la Frontera (Spain) for the penultimate round of the 2016 WorldSBK championship, scheduled for October 14-16. After some downpours earlier this week, favorable weather conditions graced the Spanish track for the first two free-practice sessions with temperatures above 20 degrees.
Chaz Davies, who has won three out of the last four races, confirmed his good form by posting the second best time with a 1:41.777. The Welshman, third at the end of FP1, took half a second off in the afternoon to finish only 0.038 seconds behind the provisional leader Sykes, with whom he is also fighting for second position in the championship.
Giugliano, who did not race during the last round in France to due a right-shoulder injury, stepped back on his Panigale R in better, though not optimal yet, physical conditions. The Italian improved his lap times by eight tenths of a second throughout the day to seize provisional tenth place (+0.604) and gain direct access to Superpole 2.
Both riders will head out on track once again Saturday morning at 08:45 (CET) for the third free-practice session ahead of Superpole and Race 1.
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7) 2nd
“Today was good, I’m generally happy with the bike. This afternoon we were right in the ballpark towards the end of the session. The overnight rain made the track quite slick in FP1, but it was just a case of working our way into it. We’ve picked up from the strong form we had in the last couple of races, where we’ve been competitive in every condition, and our goal is to build on that tomorrow. For the race, it will be important to find grip right away, because 21 laps are a long distance to cover. We still need to tweak a few things with the electronics and improve the front end a bit, but we’re definitely going in the right direction.”
Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #34) 10th
“I feel quite good, the shoulder treatment proved to be beneficial and my overall fitness has improved a lot since Magny-Cours. Now I can ride with more continuity, even though the injury is still hindering our performance a bit. I still can’t ride with ease, but the pain has diminished significantly. Today we struggled a bit with the setup, but it was somewhat to be expected since in France we focused our work on the overall comfort on the bike. We still managed to get directly into Superpole 2 and our gap from the front isn’t too big. We need to keep improving, especially in corner entry, but we’re confident.”
