A rather bittersweet day for the Ducati Superbike Team that just missed out on a podium finish in race 1 at Motorland Aragon in Spain two days ago. In this second round of the 2014 eni FIM Superbike World championship, rider Chaz Davies finished fourth in Sunday’s first Superbike race, crashing out of the following one, while his teammate Davide Giugliano closed the day’s races in seventh and eighth position.

After the first two of thirteen scheduled rounds, Giugliano is in seventh position in the general standings, with 43 points, while Davies is eighth with 30 points. Ducati lies fifth in the manufacturer’s classification with 48 points.

Chaz Davies: “Race 1 didn’t go as I’d hoped, despite my final position. I made a bad start and then was stuck behind the two Aprilias for a long while. I finally managed to get past them and got into something of a rhythm but then as the race progressed I lost some grip and I couldn’t do more. We made some changes for the second race but the front of the bike seemed a little nervous right from the start. I was trying to save the tyre for the later stages of the race but then I lost grip at the front and crashed. For some reason the marshals wouldn’t let me continue even though my bike was still running. It’s been a disappointing day because I think Davide and I were capable of reaching the podium today. We’ve taken some important data anyway and now we move on to tracks that should be more favourable for the Ducati.”

Davide Giugliano: “It’s been a tricky weekend for us. This morning we had a good chance to do well, we couldn’t have beaten the Kawasakis as they have been really strong here but the podium was definitely within our reach. Unfortunately the contact with Rea put me out of the running for the podium but we came extremely close. In race 2 I really struggled; conditions were hotter and the different rear tyre didn’t make things easier for us. But we knew this was one of the hardest tracks for us and so we have to be fairly satisfied – if the bike has improved so much that we can be that close to the front here then we should be happy. My team has worked really well, the bike is riding well and so I thank my whole team and everyone in Ducati for their hard work."