At the circuit the team have dominated at in the past, MotorLand Aragon played host to a stunning race for Aruba.it Racing – Ducati, as both Chaz Davies and Marco Melandri secured a podium finish, with Davies taking the victory in race two.

Bouncing back from a tough opening day, Davies stormed to the victory around MotorLand despite fighting with Rea for the duration of the 18 lap thriller. With strong winds hounding the circuit, the Welsh rider was able to hold off Rea and despite a moment in turn five on the final lap he took the win by 0.483s.

 “There’s no better way to do it,” explains Chaz Davies “Yesterday was a disaster, the whole weekend was a disaster until the last lap of the second race. The only moment of joy is bringing home the win, and it’s good to bring it home like that. We know the bike is good here, although we still need to work in a lot of different areas but for now we are really going to enjoy this. It was a great battle but the wind was crazy out there, we getting blown left right and centre, it was like someone pushing you out the corner it was that strong.”

Explaining his moment at turn five, Davies continues: “For a while with the wind it was easy to lose quite a few tenths, but then the second to last lap I put it together well. Then I got caught by the wind and in turn five I missed the back shift, but that’s all part of the game.”

Italian team-mate Marco Melandri continued his consistent returning form to the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, as he secured his second podium finish of the weekend, crossing the line in third position.

Able to keep up with Davies and Jonathan Rea (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) until the final laps, Melandri dropped off in the final laps as the fight continued to heat up and he hopes to work on the front end of his Panigale R machine in order to bridge the gap.

Marco Melandri explains: “It was a great race, very tough because it was very windy but my bike was working pretty good. It was not that easy to come back from the third row, but I struggled with the front again. When Chaz arrived it was difficult to pass him, he is always difficult to try and force more in the breaks. I was able to get closer to the front guys but I am missing something.”

Melandri is aware of the changes and updates he will need to make ahead of the second European rounds, with Assen up next on the calendar. “The bike is working really good and we have a good base, maybe we have to work on the set up for myself. We need to look at the front fork to help me to save the front tyre more, but luckily tomorrow we have a day with the same conditions and it will be interesting to see the change. But I am happy to be on the podium again.”