WSB: Lucky number seven for Davies at MotorLand Aragon

Strong day for Ducati with three bikes in Parc Ferme
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) took a stunning victory in the second race of the weekend at the Pirelli Aragon Round, making it his seventh win around MotorLand Aragon circuit. Joined in Parc Ferme by team-mates Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in third position, and top independent rider Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team).
Davies had a calm and collected start to the race in Spain, as the Welsh rider started with a softer tyre and took a few laps to understand the pace of his Panigale. Sitting in seventh position at the end of the first lap, he kept control of his machine and focused on his own pace, finding himself up in the fight for the win. Securing the victory on the final lap, it’s his second of the season and seventh around MotorLand.
Davies was delighted to leave Spain with 45 points: “It’s the lucky N0.7 today, but we had to work for it. Coming up from eighth on the grid was three places higher than yesterday, I knew we could pull through but in the first few laps. But I didn’t quite have the feeling I was expecting, we used a softer tyre and I was expecting to be on rails. I stayed patient and tried not to force the issue, got myself in a good position and saw how the race pans out, so I’m really happy with that.”
On the other side of the garage, Marco Melandri finished the weekend feeling frustrated as he finished in third position but experienced the same wobbles with his Panigale as before. Still unable to fix the issue, combined with a brake problem in the final lap, third position was the best result he could take considering the conditions he faced.
“It’s frustrating when you have the speed to fight for the win but you can’t make the pass,” begins the Italian. “Every time I tried to pass the bike was so unstable, and I also nearly crashed when I tried to overtake Jonny in the slipstream. I lost the rear brake in the last laps and I almost crashed in corner three but it was difficult to finish the lap and luckily it was the last lap. Third is ok but not what I want actually.”
Making his debut in WorldSBK this weekend, Michael Ruben Rinaldi was able to take seventh position overall as the Italian put in a stunning performance around MotorLand. Up into fourth on the 11th lap of 18, Rinaldi is happy with his first experience and how much he is able to learn from his competitors.
Rinaldi adds: “It was an awesome race with those guys, they are very fast and I tried to follow them all race. But unfortunately in the last five laps I was very tired and the tyres were finished, but I tried to get the best result possible. Seventh is ok, and it couldn’t have started in a better way. I am happy because for me and my team, this a new category and we started in the good way. We have to improve the last part of the race as this is the worst part, but I am happy so thank you very much.”