Veteran rider back in the WorldSBK paddock to partner Championship contender Davies
Marco Melandri is set to make a return to the World Superbike paddock
in 2017, as the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team announce the Italian as
partner to staying talent Chaz Davies. Davies was widely expected to
stay with the Borgo Panigale factory as has been officially confirmed to
be doing so.
The goal of the team is clear: to fight for both the rider’s and manufacturer’s titles.
Davies is now in year 3 of his Ducati tenure and, as well as scoring
the Panigale’s first win, has since added 8 more victories to the tally
and is a key Championship protagonist, heading the Ducati charge against
the Kawasaki pairing of Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes.
“I’m extremely happy to renew my professional relationship with Ducati
for two more seasons,” said Davies. “The continuity element is really
important in our job, and so far we’ve made great strides and got
progressively closer to our goal. Now we can fight for the win
practically on every track, and I’m confident we can make further
improvements. Moreover, to race for Ducati is something special:
everything is done with heart and passion, you really feel part of a
family and have a direct connection between the production and racing.
It’s going to be exciting.”
Veteran Melandri, on the other hand, will return to WorldSBK once more -
where he has claimed 19 wins and 49 overall podiums in 100 races.
“I’m really excited to come back to racing, it’s a dream come true,”
Melandri stated. “I always said I was only interested in a top bike and
top team, and I could not have asked for more. I kept following WorldSBK
closely, and I’m confident the Panigale R can perfectly suit my riding
style. We’ll just have to take one step at a time, but the potential is
surely high. I know it won’t be easy to get back up to speed, but I have
all the time to step on the bike, do laps and make sure I’m ready for
the first test: to this end, I will skip the holidays to train on a
street version of the Panigale R.”
The 2016 championship will therefore mark Davide Giugliano’s last
season within the Aruba.it Racing - Ducati team. In three years with the
squad, the Italian rider has shown great speed and resilience, taking
10 podiums so far despite being sidelined for most of 2015 with two
serious injuries.
Ducati and Aruba.it thank Davide for his efforts, wishing him all the
best for his future career and reiterating their commitment to give him
the best possible tools to achieve his first WorldSBK win.
“I had a great time with Ducati,” said Giugliano. “I learned a lot and
was given a wealth of experience to draw upon, which is really important
for a young rider. We also faced some difficult times, especially last
year when I was badly injured, but we’ve always stayed close. We decided
to take different paths, but our relationship remains strong. It’s been
a great journey, which has yielded great results despite the fact that
we would have liked to do more, but I’ll give my best until the end of
the season to achieve bigger goals.”
The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team recently concluded a test at
Lausitzring and are now on summer break – with racing set to resume at
the German venue in September as the last four Rounds of the season get
underway, and 2017 begins to appear on the horizon.(http://www.worldsbk.com )
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