After taking a brilliant win and two more podiums at Aragon (Spain) last weekend, the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team is ready to take it back to the track at Assen (Netherlands) for the fourth round of the 2018 WorldSBK Championship.
Both Chaz Davies and Marco Melandri are keen to take home their first win on the historic TT Circuit, where they both already stepped on the podium with the Panigale R, the Welshman four times and the Italian once. Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who took two podiums in the Superstock 1000 class with Ducati at Assen, will also return to the track with the Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team.
After three rounds, Davies and Melandri are respectively 2nd (102 points) and 3rd (96 points) in the championship, while Rinaldi is 14th (17 points). The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team and the Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team will resume action on Friday at 09:45 local time (CET) for the first free-practice session.
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7)
“I feel really confident going into Round 4, even though historically Assen hasn’t been our most favorable track. We’ve improved our setup and pace there over the years, getting closer and closer to the goal, and we basically know what we need. Our package is dialed pretty well and there’s a lot to look forward to. I think it’s going to be another great battle and I can’t wait to get started.”
Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #33)
“I always enjoyed riding at Assen, both in the classic and new layout. I still haven’t won there in Superbike, and the goal is to rewrite that statistic. To do that, we need to keep working hard to improve stability. We’ve made steps forward at Aragon, but we still need to work to be more consistent and attack throughout the race. Physically I feel great, so I can’t wait to get back on my bike.”
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team #21)
“After a positive debut at Aragon, we go to Assen with a bit more experience, which we’ll try to make the most of. We’ll work hard, especially for the second half of the race, to get even closer to the top riders. I really like the track and I can’t wait to ride on it with the SBK-spec Panigale R.”
Circuit information
Country: Netherlands
Name: TT Circuit Assen
Track length: 4.542 km
Corners: 18 (6 left, 12 right)
Race distance: 21 laps / 95.382 km
RECORDS
Fastest lap: Rea (Kawasaki), 1:33.505 (174,870 km/h) – 2017
Circuit record: Rea (Kawasaki), 1:34.880 (172,340 km/h) – 2017
Superpole: Rea (Kawasaki), 1:33.505 (174,870 km/h) – 2017
2017 RESULTS
Race 1: Rea (Kawasaki), Sykes (Kawasaki), Melandri (Ducati)
Race 2: Rea (Kawasaki), Sykes (Kawasaki), Davies (Ducati)
Rider information
Chaz Davies
Bike: Ducati Panigale R
Race number: 7
Age: 31 (Born 10/02/1987 in Knighton, Wales)
SBK races: 158
SBK wins: 29
SBK podiums: 72
Marco Melandri
Bike: Ducati Panigale R
Race number: 33
Age: 35 (Born 07/08/1982 in Ravenna, Italy)
SBK races: 134
SBK wins: 22
SBK podiums: 65
Michael Ruben Rinaldi
Bike: Ducati Panigale R
Race number: 21
Age: 22 (Born 12/21/1995 in Rimini, Italy)
SBK races: 2
SBK wins: –
SBK podiums: –
Weekend schedule (CET):
Friday (April 20th)
09:45 – 10:45 SBK FP1
12:30 – 13:10 SBK FP2
16:05 – 16:45 SBK FP3
Saturday (April 21st)
08:45 – 09:05 SBK FP4
10:30 – 10:45 SBK Superpole 1
10:55 – 11:10 SBK Superpole 2
13:00 SBK Race 1
Sunday (April 22nd)
09:35 – 09:50 SBK Warm-up
13:00 SBK Race 2
