The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team concludes Race-1 of the first historical “Catalunya Round” – at the Montmelò circuit in Barcelona (Spain) – with a solid double podium finish as
Scott Redding and Chaz Davies react well to a difficult qualifying that forced them to start from seventh and eleventh position respectively.
Scott gets off a great start and after two corners is already in second position. In the first few laps Redding engages a nice duel with Rinaldi (Ducati) then from mid-race on, he tries to push to close the gap with Rea (Kawasaki) who manages to defend himself well.
Chaz’s progression is constant since the first corner. Starting from the fourth row, in the first 4 laps the Welsh rider overtakes first Lowes (Kawasaki), then Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) and moves to sixth position. His race pace is incisive and allows him to catch Van Der Mark (Yamaha) before getting the podium by overtaking Rinaldi with 3 laps to go.
Scott Redding (227 points) is second in the Superbike World Championship standings, 41 points behind leader Jonathan Rea.
Chaz Davies (150) reached Toprak Razgatlioglu in third position.
P2 – Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #45)
“During the race, the feeling with the bike was pretty good compared to what happened in qualifying. I got off to a good start and this allowed me to stay in the front group right away. In the first laps, I fought with Rinaldi who had the soft tire and I lost some contact with Rea. I tried to recover but it was not possible. It was still a good race, a good result also for the team. Unfortunately, Jonny arrived in front of me but I still want to congratulate him for the race he did.”.
P3 – Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7)
“Unfortunately the grip problems I had in qualifying forced me to start far behind on the grid but the first two laps were very good and I managed to make a good comeback. In the first part of the race, however, the race pace was not enough incisive to try to reduce the gap with the leading group. I hope I can make another good start in SuperPole Race to get a good result and start later in Race 2”.
