After missing the first four rounds of the 2015 eni FIM Superbike World Championship season, Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team) is ready to return to action aboard his factory Panigale R machine for the Acerbis Italian Round, taking place on May 8-10 at Imola. The 25-year-old Roman fractured the L1 and L2 vertebrae in a highside last February, during the official DWO test at Phillip Island. After more than two months without riding, Giugliano joined two-time WorldSBK Champion Max Biaggi for a supermoto training session last week.

“I felt great on the bike and I was really looking forward to it,” Giugliano told WorldSBK.com. “I took a steady approach at the beginning, even though lap after lap I tried to push a bit more, but avoiding any risk. Obviously I’m still not 100%, as all I was able to do were exercises in the swimming pool. The plan is to start training properly after Imola in order to get back to full fitness.”

With Imola being one of the most demanding tracks on the WorldSBK calendar, Giugliano’s comeback is surely not going to be an easy one. The former STK1000 winner has no real expectation for the round and does not know how the comeback will feel. “It won’t be a walk in the park but I hope the adrenaline will help me out,” he added. “This has been the first time in my career when I have had to sit out of racing due to an injury. For being a first, it couldn’t have come at a worse time. There is not much I can do about it now apart from giving my all until the end of the season. These types of incidents make you grow both as person and as professional.”

Giugliano now makes his return to a series that has seen one clear leader since Thailand. With no injury forcing him out of action, would the championship situation be different?

“I would like to think so, even though (Jonathan) Rea has proven to be almost uncatchable so far. He has won six out of eight races and never finished below second place. Could have I got in the mix and challenged him for the win? I think so, as the Panigale R has battled at the front with Chaz. Fighting with Rea is always great fun and that’s what I would like to do again soon.”

Giugliano has mixed memories about the upcoming round: “I like the track a lot, it’s a very demanding and technical one. In 2013 I managed to step onto the podium (second place in Race 1) while last year everything went wrong. Despite the results, we’ve always been fast there.”

Giugliano also praised the work done by his substitute at Aragon and Assen, Spaniard Xavi Fores. “He has done really well and I think he surpassed everyone’s expectations,” he begins to sum up. “He deserved this chance and I think he also deserves to find a full-time ride in this series.”