On the obliging race track of Aragon, Chaz Davies scored a historic double triumph, winning both the race held on Saturday, and the following on Sunday (700th Superbike race). A determined Chaz took full advantage of both the technical innovations introduced on his Ducati, and the accommodating curves of a circuit that he prefers most- a superiority that in both races was absolute. With this double victory, Davies moves into second place in the overall standings of the championship and has begun to apply pressure to the green and seemingly unbeatable, Kawasaki.
Good race also for the more concrete Xavi Forés, who finished 4th in both races. Lorenzo Savadori is increasing in confidence in this category after scoring tenth and eleventh. Also, a great satifaction in Superstock 1000 where Tati Mercado and Michael Ruben Rinaldi scored first and second place in the starting race of the season.
Next race: Assen.
In the MotoGP race in Argentina (with the exception of the excellent seventh place of Stefan Bradl, and sixth of Syahrin in Moto2), things did not go as well; In Moto3 (because of the uncertain condition of the track) only Kornfeil scored points (9th) behind Bastianini (17°) and Kent reached 16th in Moto2 .
Next race in USA, April 10th.
Chaz Davies Race – 1º
“In the beginning it wasn’t easy to fight in the group, but I gradually managed to climb back through the field and take the lead. Then, I simply tried to establish my own rhythm, progressively building a gap. I’m very happy, we’ve made a clear step forward in terms of power, for which I want to thank Ducati for the constant efforts to push development forward. We’ve been close to winning a few times already this year, and now we need to stay on this course. We can still improve before Race Two tomorrow.”
Chaz Davies Race 2 – 1º
“This weekend feels like a dream. The bike was competitive from the get-go, and we only made small tweaks. The technical upgrades brought here have given us what we needed. In Thailand I could only stay in the slipstream, while here I’ve been able to pass my opponents also on the straight. In Assen, however, we will start from scratch. The season has just begun, and things can change quite quickly, but I’m really happy with our overall package. It’s my third year with Ducati, and I witnessed a constant growth. Now the list of things to improve is really short, and I want to thank everybody in the team and the factory for the amount of work put in.”
Xavi Forés Race 1 – 4º
"I am so happy! I didn't expect such a race. At the beginning it was really hard for me to stay close to Hayden and overtake him. His bike on the straight was faster and so I lost a lot of time there. I knew that I had something more than Giugliano and Guintoli, who were both in the same group, so in the end I decided to try and overtake them and set my pace. Davide remained stuck behind me and till last lap he tried several times to attack me. But today it went like this! I managed to get this fourth place which both for me and the team means like a victory after the two extra-European races where we suffered a lot. We deserved it! Now we will continue to work in view of tomorrow Race 2!”
Xavi Forés Race 2 – 4º
"I am so happy that I was able to repeat the great result of yesterday also today in Race 2! Unfortunately I have always some difficulties at the start and I lost some time overtaking all the other riders. During the early stages I stressed the tyres a lot to decrease the gap, but I didn't have many problems at the end of the race. I knew that my pace was good and that I was as faster as the Kawasaki riders in front of me, so I started to push because I hoped in a mistake of them to get closer and fight for the podium. I am pleased also for my team because they really deserved this result! Now we will continue to work hard, but we are on the right path".
LORENZO SAVADORI Race 1 – 10°
“The race I expected is a little’ different. We had some grip problems in the early laps, a bit’ as had happened to Phillip Island. So I could not hold the position I had after the start. we had some little troubles and we must try to set us up for tomorrow. It was a difficult race, but we have the potential to do better. Being back in the top ten is a good news, I see the glass half full, all right, but we took a bit ‘too much gap to the front, I think if we can make that little step more we can think of improving this result. ”
LORENZO SAVADORI Race 2 – 11°
“It was a race was quite positive especially for the fact that I’ve gained over ten seconds in terms of gap to the front riders. We are still working on the best set up. We know it is not easy but I’m sure that with the good work the boys of Iodaracing doing and the Aprilia stuff we can continue to get better and better. My goal is to improve with every exit on track and although this time it was not for the position, it was for detachment, we go on like this. “
STEFAN BRADL 7°
“This is a fantastic result for Aprilia, for the team and for me. The first race with the 2016 RS-GP wasn't particularly lucky but today we redeemed ourselves. In these difficult circumstances we did an excellent job. Even the strategy of stopping straight away to change bikes proved to be the right way to go. We gained a few positions during the pit stop and I was able to be fast straight away with the second bike. In any case, it wasn't easy to stay on the track. There were damp spots everywhere. I risked going down a couple of times so I decided to slow my pace in order not to crash. Also, the rear tyre on my second bike wasn't giving me the same feeling, so I couldn't push any harder. My compliments to Aprilia and the guys on my team. It was truly an incredible race”.
ENEA BASTIANINI (17°)
“Unfortunately, at the beginning of the race, with the track still damp, I was not feeling at ease: probably we choose a little bit too rigid set up and I was unable to maintain a good pace to stay in the leading group. Towards the end of the race, when the track dried more, I managed to get good lap times and I was also faster than the riders in front of me, but unfortunately it was not enough to recover. I’m disappointed because I could have a good race here, in both dry and wet conditions. Unfortunately I struggled in these mixed conditions. However, the Championship is still long and we will have time to show that we are competitive”.
