SBK, Davies: The Lausitzring? Fun but a lot of bumps!

Superbike is now on holiday. There are just under two months before the production-derived bikes will be back on track, on 18 September at the Lausitzring. The German track will host the first race back after the summer break, a track still to be discovered, returning to the series after a nine-year absence. The last time was in 2007. So it's a good idea to get to know it ahead of time.   

Ducati has in fact carried out a two-day test with Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano on the Panigale R. The British rider, fresh from a third place finish at Laguna Seca, completed 137 laps, stopping the clocks on 1’37”0: “All in all, it was a very positive test - said the Welshman - I’ve been a little bit disappointed in the last few races as I didn’t have the same feel on the bike that I 'm used to, but we’ve made some small adjustments and it seems like we've been able to get it back."

Davies appreciates the track, but there is more to do: "The priority was to learn the circuit, and it turned out to be more fun that I expected but needs some renovations - he underlined - The bumps, in particular, mean it's not easy to learn. We were lucky with the weather considering the forecast, as we only missed a couple of hours of track time. We did a lot of laps, and I think that we did a great time on race tyres, so we go on holiday tired and happy.”

Davide Giugliano was also able to get reacquainted with the track. The Roman rider, who will leave Ducati at the end of the season, completed 95 laps: “It was important for us to come test on this track before the race. The last time I rode here was in 2007, and I didn’t remember it too well. The track is beautiful and fun to ride, the only problem are the bumps, of which there are too many..."

Giugliano set a best of 1'37"8, around eight tenths slower than his team-mate: "We've done a good job with the setup, evaluating a few solutions that should help us make another step forward in the last four rounds. Unfortunately, we couldn’t spend as much time on track as we would have liked because of some issues and the rain, but we still gathered some crucial data before the race.”