WorldSBK returns to Europe: the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team heads to Aragon for Round 3

After taking three wins in the first two overseas rounds of the 2018 WorldSBK Championship, the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team is ready to kick off the “European season” with the Aragon (Spain) round, scheduled for April 13-15. The track on the outskirts of Alcañiz saw both Chaz Davies and Marco Melandri triumph – respectively in six and two occasions – collecting eight podiums each in total, and the goal of the team is to extend the positive momentum and achieve prestigious results with both riders.

After two rounds, Melandri and Davies are 2nd (67 points) and 4th (57 points) in the rankings, only 2 and 12 points behind the provisional leader respectively. Also, at Aragon, Michael Ruben Rinaldi will make his WorldSBK debut with the Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team, which will take part in all European rounds. The STK1000 champion prepared the round with two days of tests on the Spanish track, concluded with positive feedback.

The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team and the Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team will resume action on Friday, April 13th, at 09:45 for the first free-practice session.

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7)

“I’m excited going into Round 3. We’ve put in the work and I feel good on the bike. The win in Thailand was really important and it gives me a lot of confidence, because it’s always been a tough track for us. On the other hand, I had a lot of good races at Aragon: first podium, first double and first W with the Panigale R. That said, I’ll take it as any other race. It’s been close there in the past, and I expect many riders challenging for the win. The racing has been pretty even this year, and on track I haven’t seen big differences between the bikes. I’m ready for the battle”.

Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #33)

“Aragon is track that I really enjoy and I had good results there in several occasions in the past. I’m happy to start the European leg of the championship from there. Despite the difficulties on the straight we encountered in Thailand, I feel in great shape and I’m confident I can be fast. I believe we can fix the issues that limited us and challenge for the win or at least the podium once again. Weather could also come into play this weekend, so we’ll see.”

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team #21)

“I’m really happy and ready to make my WorldSBK debut. We worked hard to begin in the best possible shape, and I’m really keen on finally racing. We’ll obviously do our best, knowing there’s still a lot to learn. In the tests, we consistently improved the base setup and the feeling with the bike and the team. We just have to get out on track and find out where we’re at.”

Circuit information

County: Spain

Name: Motorland Aragon

Track length: 5,007 km

Corners: 17 (10 left, 7 right)

Race distance: 18 laps / 91,386 km

RECORDS

Best lap: Davies (Ducati), 1:49.319 (167,190 km/h) – 2017

Circuit record: Davies (Ducati), 1:50.421 (164,581 km/h) – 2016

Superpole: Davies (Ducati), 1:49.319 (167,190 km/h) – 2017

Rider information

Chaz Davies

Bike: Ducati Panigale R

Race number: 7

Age: 31 (Born 10/02/1987 in Knighton, Wales)

SBK races: 156

SBK wins: 28

SBK podiums: 70

Marco Melandri

Bike: Ducati Panigale R

Race number: 33

Age: 35 (Born 07/08/1982 in Ravenna, Italy)

SBK races: 132

SBK wins: 22

SBK podiums: 64

Michael Ruben Rinaldi

Bike: Ducati Panigale R

Race number: 21

Age: 22 (Born 12/21/1995 in Rimini, Italy)

SBK races: –

SBK wins: –

SBK podiums: –

Weekend schedule (CET):

Friday (April 13th)

09:45 – 10:45 SBK FP1

12:30 – 13:10 SBK FP2

16:05 – 16:45 SBK FP3

Saturday (April 14th)

08:45 – 09:05 SBK FP4

10:30 – 10:45 SBK Superpole 1

10:55 – 11:10 SBK Superpole 2

13:00 SBK Race 1

Sunday (April 15th)

09:35 – 09:50 SBK Warm-up

13:00 SBK Race 2

More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:

#AragonWorldSBK

10 facts you need to know ahead of the Pirelli Aragon Round

Prepare for the European opener and countdown to Aragon

1. Hard times for the World Champion: Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) has managed just two podiums out of four races in this opening part of the season. It’s just the second time this has happened since he joined Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK in 2015, the other being his one podium finish (a win at the Lausitzring) out of four races from Laguna Seca Race 2 to Magny-Cours Race 1, back in 2016.

2. Rea did however manage to go back to the top of the championship standings, with an advantage of 2 points. He has always been the championship leader after four races in the past three years, and his advantage was as follows: 10 points in 2015; 29 points in 2016; 30 points last year.

3. Chang International Circuit was the 10th track where Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) recorded a WorldSBK win, and the 42nd for Ducati. The manufacturer has now won at least once in each track of the current calendar.

4. Last year Rea gave Great Britain their 200th WorldSBK win in Race 1 at MotorLand Aragon.

5. Davies enters the Aragon Round with six wins here. In WorldSBK history only four riders have managed seven wins or more on a given track: Carl Fogarty at Assen (12); Jonathan Rea at Assen (11); Tom Sykes at Donington Park (9); and Troy Corser at Phillip Island (7).

6. The last 12 races here have always had a British rider on pole. This includes Race 2 last year, when according to the new regulations the 4th placed rider in Race 1 – Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) – started from pole in Race 2. The streak of British winners here is 10 races long and started in 2013 with a double by Davies.

7. All but two wins here have been secured by current riders: six by Davies, and two each by Melandri, Sykes and Rea. Missing from this list is retired World Champion Max Biaggi, who won at MotorLand Aragon in 2011 Race 2 and 2012 Race 1.

8. In the last three race weekends at MotorLand Aragon (2015-2017) only one non-British racer finished on the podium, this was Marco Melandri (Italy), who was second in both races last year.

9. The only win that hasn’t come from the first five grid spots at MotorLand Aragon was taken last year by Chaz Davies in Race 2, he won starting from 10th.

10. Only three wins out of fourteen came from pole at MotorLand Aragon, the first 2011 race (Melandri) and the double from Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in 2014.