Set in the majestic parkland of Imola, Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) had a strong opening day in the Motul Italian Round as he set the fastest time of the day in front of his team’s home fans.

Getting off to a slower start under sunny skies in Free Practice in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, the British rider was keen to close the gap of just 0.256s from main championship rival Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) as they went into the afternoon’s session. Making some changes to his set-up in the break, he was able to come out fighting for FP2.

With a steady start to the session, Davies was able to pull out all the stops and continue to set faster laps in Free Practice two as he ended the session almost half a second in front of his rivals.

With a lap time of 1.46.229 to end the say, Davies explains: “I am pretty happy, I think I surprised myself with the lap time a little bit. It was quick, but honestly this morning I didn’t really feel that great. After we made some changes for this afternoon, we figured out what tyres work and changed the set-up we found ourselves in a much happier place - I felt like I could hit my marks a bit better. I think we can sharpen up on a few areas - there’s not one big part - as we managed to work through most issues this morning.”

Safely through to Saturday’s Superpole Two, Davies will be keen to impress as the Italian fans will be out with full support for the Ducati squad.