After taking the top step of podium in Race 1, the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team did the double in Jerez de la Frontera (Spain) with Chaz Davies. The Welshman rider thus seized his fourth win in a row and ninth of the season – tied with championship leader Rea – to maintain the momentum that saw him win five out of six races after the summer break.
Thanks to a blistering start from sixth position on the grid, Davies entered turn 1 in second place and soon after took the lead and adopted the same strategy as in Race 1, progressively building a gap with an unequaled pace. To underscore his masterful performance, he also set the fastest lap with a 1:41.492.
Davide Giugliano, on the other hand, faced an uphill race as he was forced to play defense due to the less than optimal conditions of his injured right shoulder. The Italian rider, after losing positions in the early phases, did not give up despite the pain and some grip issues to finish in 13th position.
After twelve rounds, Davies and Giugliano are respectively third (395 points) and sixth (197 points) in the general standings. The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team will be back in action under floodlights in Losail for the final round of the season, scheduled for October 28-30.
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7) 1st
“To win four races in a row is just unreal. Lately I’ve been very confident and able to push 100 percent every lap, just dancing on the bike. Also, I managed to get the best start of the year and entered turn 1 just behind Sykes. I think he was trying to save his tyres, so I took the opportunity because I knew we could run our pace for the whole race. Today, the key was to manage the grip. I was a little mindful at the start, because the hotter conditions made the track more slippery, but in the end I could see the gap building and then it was just a case of bringing it home. Without getting overconfident, we’ll try to make it sixth in a row to get second position in the championship.”
Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #34) 13th
“It’s a pity, but we had another difficult race. This morning we found a competitive setup, but the track temperatures during the race were almost twice as high and we lost grip. To make things worse, the right-shoulder injury forced us to drop the pace after a few laps. It was still important to make it to the finish line to score points and gather data. We’ll try some more things in tomorrow’s tests and then I’ll continue the physio treatment to go to Qatar in better shape and make the most of our potential.”
Stefano Cecconi, Aruba S.p.A CEO and Team Principal
“Given the results achieved in this second half of the season, in which we’ve been fighting at the top constantly, one can say we reached the competitiveness we aimed for. However, we’ll try to make further improvements to finish the season on a high note with both riders and work with the maximum concentration possible during the winter break to make sure we start 2017 in this kind of form.”
