After the fantastic double win at Imola, the Aruba.it Racing - Ducati team lands in Malaysia, at Sepang. Chaz Davies returns to a track at which he took the win in Race 2, after a great duel with Jonathan Rea, and after closing right behind winner Rea in Race 1.
The track, close to Kuala Lumpur and hosting the World Superbikes for the third consecutive year, has recently been resurfaced and this means the riders will need to adjust their previous references, both in terms of riding and set-up: "In 2015 we scored an unexpected win" states Davies."This year, the track was repaved and I heard the banking changed in some corners, so it will be a somewhat new track for everyone and there will be more variables to take into account."
But there is great optimism on the back of Imola, particularly in terms of the progress made by the Panigale R, which now seems to fully meet with the Welshman's requirementas: "In the last races, we’ve found a quite versatile setup that works on different tracks and allows me to ride close to the limit without passing it. The bike also reacts well to each change we make, and usually we know exactly where to intervene to improve. We need to stay on this course - concludes Davies - to further cut the gap in the championship."
Last year, Davies' Panigale R was the only one in the garage as Davide Giugliano was out due to injury sustained at Laguna Seca. The Roman took steps forward at Imola, closing the races fifth and four, and will use Sepang as an important test bench for verifying ongoing set-up refinement as well as his own development: "Given our results at Imola, I think we finally laid down some cornerstones in terms of the setup of my Panigale R", stated Giugliano. "We certainly are not at the end of the road since there is still a gap to recover".
Imola nevertheless provided some of the answers that Davide had been waiting for: "Especially in Race 2 I was able to ride the way I wanted to, without experiencing any particular issues and getting good feedback from my bike. I've only raced once in Sepang, in 2014, but the recent upgrades almost make it a new track for everyone. We head there with confidence, we just need to keep working methodically on our basis, without rushing things.”
(photocredits Costantino Di Domenico)