SBK| Pirelli Spanish Round, Race2: second and third place for Ducati

The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team concluded the twelfth round of the season, on the Jerez de la Frontera track, in second and third place in Race2 respectively with Marco Melandri and Chaz Davies, even if the target for the weekend was decidedly higher on the eve.

In yesterday's race the Welsh rider managed to get second place behind Jonathan Rea, while Melandri was betrayed by the engine of his Panigale when he was leading and there were only four laps to go.
Ducati with Davies started as the big favorites of the weekend: the speed to win was there but unfortunately the mechanical problems, first with the Welshman in free practice on Friday, then with Melandri in the race, definitely reduced the results.

“When you have the speed to win but you can't, it's not good” – he began Marco Melandri in post-podium interviews – “It was a difficult race. Starting from tenth position, I knew it wouldn't be easy to make up ground. Rea had the pace to escape and I wanted to stay close to him from the start. I was getting through the group well, but then I lost time with VD Mark after a contact at turn 5. Overtaking him was correct, I can understand that, but if he had waited and followed me we would both have benefited. Sometimes it's better to wait and follow the fastest one. I also made some mistakes, because I couldn't brake well."

A second place which he is obviously satisfied with but which does not compensate for the result of Race 1: “I wanted to win and I felt that I had the bike to do it. I'm happy with second place but when you have the bike to win and you can't, it's not nice. Compared to yesterday I only changed the engine, nothing else".

Looking at this year's results, do you think you paid for a bit of apprenticeship or were the problems more beyond your control?: "It's certainly a very competitive but very difficult bike, it's no coincidence that historically it takes a little bit earlier to go fast. In many races we had problems that we hadn't encountered before, type of instability on the straight, anomalous problems. We've gained experience and I'm getting to know this bike. It's important to finish well in Qatar too and then start again from there for next year, the bike is growing."

Chaz Davies, however, was involved in an accident at the start together with Laverty and Schmitter, but fortunately he and the bike did not suffer any damage: the Welsh rider was thus able to line up on the grid for the restart.
Davies, despite the difficulties with the new asphalt, drove a solid race and finished in third place, finishing tied with Tom Sykes in second place in the world championship standings.

“I am very happy with this result” – he said Chaz Davies – “getting on the podium twice here wasn't a given. I think we achieved the most, I had to fight to make the difference. I had a complicated weekend. Since Friday morning, it was clear that it was not going to be an easy round for us. The new asphalt created some problems for us and we had to deal with various problems, but we responded well. It would have been very difficult to fight for the win, but our main objective was to make up points on Sykes and now we are exactly level, so I'm satisfied. Last year we were very competitive in Qatar, so I hope to pick up where we left off in 2016."