Ducati: Competitive from the Get-Go in Aragón
2 victories and both bikes in the top six see Borgo Panigale factory head home happy
After scoring his first win of the 2016 season on Saturday, Chaz Davies followed the performance up with an even greater margin of victory in Race 2. Third at the start, the Welshman took the lead during lap 2 and once again was able to escape the chasing pack.
Teammate Davide Giugliano had a bittersweet race. The Italian struggled with grip once again and was slowed down by a temporary technical problem during lap seven, that caused him to drop from fifth to eighth position, but managed to recover ground and finish strong.
At the end of the Pirelli Aragón Round, Davies and Giugliano are in second and fifth in the title fight, respectively, and Ducati are second in the Manufacturer rankings.
“This weekend feels like a dream,” said Davies. “The bike was competitive from the get-go, and we only made small tweaks. The technical upgrades brought here have given us what we needed. In Thailand I could only stay in the slipstream, while here I’ve been able to pass my opponents also on the straight. In Assen, however, we will start from scratch. The season has just begun, and things can change quite quickly, but I’m really happy with our overall package.”
“It hasn’t been an easy round for me,” added Giugliano in comparison. “We struggled with several issues since Friday, especially grip. This is racing. The good thing is that, despite this, we never gave up and managed to collect some good points. Now with my crew we are already thinking about Assen.”
Assen sees WorldSBK travel to the Netherlands for the next Round on the 15th to 17th of April, where Davide Giugliano will be looking to gain ground on points rival and home hero Michael van der Mark, who lies ahead of him in the title chase. Chaz Davies, meanwhile, will be concentrating on Championship leader Jonathan Rea as WorldSBK returns to the scene of a Rea double in 2015.
