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Imola is set to be a big round for the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati squad, set just a short 40 minute drive from the Ducati factory it is truly a home round for the factory team. Having the perfect weekend at the circuit last year, Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) secured the double victory on his team’s home turf. But can this honour be repeated, or will Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) take the victory and become the 100^th Italian victor in the series? The pair head to the stunning circuit with the passion of the Ducatisti behind them.

Davies’ only two victories at Imola came last season as the dominated proceedings, whilst his other two podium appearances came back in 2015. With a mixed start to the season for the British rider, Davies has secured one victory so far and is hoping to break down his championship gap with his ‘second home’ crowd support behind him.

Excited to get out on track in Northern Italy, Davies explains: "For me, Imola is the most beautiful race of the year. It has the atmosphere, the history, and when the races go well like happened last season, it is the best place to win and celebrate in front of all the Ducatisti. I like the track very much: it's technical and I think it suits my riding style, but it's also difficult as it has varying degrees of camber, so it's never easy to find the right setup of the bike. For example, the section that goes from Piratella to Acque Minerali is really challenging, but it gives an amazing feeling when you get it right. Assen was an up and down weekend; we did not pick up what we hoped but we did our best, so I'm confident that with a little bit of luck we can get better results. "

 Heading to Imola with a lot of expectation behind him, Italian Melandri is thriving off the pressure with his first home race since his return to the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. With his home town less than 50km away from the circuit, he will hope to make his first step onto the podium at the circuit – something he has never done before.

"Imola is a track I like very much,” begins Melandri. “Apart from the chicane, it's really gorgeous, very narrow and has corners of all kinds. As well as this it is surrounded by nature and geographically, the circuit is exactly halfway between my home and Ducati. In short, it's a special place. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons I have not managed to get a good result here in Superbike, but we arrive here in a good shape. In Assen we struggled a bit more than expected, but we knew that sooner or later it would have happened and it was still a useful round to learn and improve. Expectations for the home race are certainly high, which is just one more motivation. The pressure, if any, is positive. "

Keep up with all the Italian drama from the Motul Italian Round with the WorldSBK VideoPass, and see if the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team can paint the circuit red.