Davies has already shown a penchant for the Californian track, where he scored his first double win on the Panigale R (together with pole position and fastest lap in the race) in 2015. Giugliano, on the other hand, missed the victory by only a tenth of a second in Race Two in 2013 but crashed out last year and was consequently sidelined until the end of the season due to a back injury. Action will resume at 10:15 local time (CET -9) on Friday for the first free-practice session.

Chaz Davies: “I really enjoy riding in Laguna Seca, it’s different from any other track on the calendar and quite demanding, both for the bike and the rider. All season long, we’ve always had the pace to fight at the top, but the last few rounds haven’t been as smooth as we would have liked. Some unexpected difficulties have slowed us down a bit and we’ve lost points in the championship. That said, I still believe we can turn things around but we need to start now.”

Davide Giugliano: “In the last three rounds, we managed to progressively improve together with the team, and we stepped on the podium in Sepang, Donington and Misano, even if we would have liked to have done better in terms of consistency. I always liked the Laguna Seca track before getting badly injured last year, so the goal is to leave the past behind. We’ve already done that in Phillip Island, where we had two solid races, and we’re confident we can do it also this time around.”