As MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship action resumes around the German circuit of Lausitzring, the Italian team of Aruba.it Racing - Ducati had a good day in the office with Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) taking the victory in race one, and Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) ended in the top four.

British rider Davies had a tough Superpole session, but was able to make up for this in the race as he got into the lead on the second lap and never looked back. Unable to shake Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) off his tail, he felt he had set up his Panigale to put in a solid race pace opposed to having the strength around one lap, and he finally crossed the line 1.834s ahead of his compatriot.

Davies’ race didn’t begin smoothly however as he had a bike issue on the sighting lap: “It was pandemonium on the sighting lap, I didn’t have a rear break so I was pumping to try to get it back, which meant something went over the tyre. On the grid it was a little bit tense, thankfully I’ve got good mechanics, they got it working to be good enough to be what I needed to be able to do with it.”

Regarding the race, the Welshman reviewed the race: “I got a great start and found myself in a good position. When I slotted past Tom it was just a matter of setting my pace, I didn’t check my lap times or look at the board, I just did my job. I was able to roll it off with two laps to go as I heard Jonny slip back a bit, so I was able to bring it home and I’m very happy with the win.”

Italian team-mate Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) had a strong session in Superpole, sitting potentially on pole position in the early stages of the session. However throughout the race, he was unable to keep up with the front runners due to throttle issues with his Panigale.

At his first weekend around the circuit, Melandri is disappointed with his fourth position, and is hoping he can make some overnight changes to secure a more stable pace in race two. Stressing the importance of securing a solid pace around  the 4.265km circuit, the Italian isn’t too focused on his pole position start for race two but rather his overall race pace.  

“It’s not been the best race,” Begins a downbeat Melandri. “The first few laps weren’t so bad, the pace was there but it was difficult for me to be consistent. Once the tyre dropped down I became very nervous, and it was difficult for me to open the throttle going out of the corner, even in the straight it was very difficult to keep it wide open, so it was not easy. We will try tomorrow to change something on the bike and be better. I think it’s important to find a better set up and to be more consistent for the race.”

Keep up with the progress of the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team-mates on Sunday in the Prosecco DOC German Round; all on the WorldSBK VideoPass as Race Two gets underway 13.00 LT.