Chaz Davies is ready for track action to resume at the Circuito de Jerez this weekend after a spectacular double victory last time out at Magny-Cours. His Aruba.it Racing – Ducati teammate Davide Giugliano was forced on the sidelines due to a right-shoulder injury but is ready to return at the Gaerne Spanish Round. Both riders look forward to the challenge that the penultimate Round brings.

Davies, who has sealed seven wins -a personal record- this season, is keen to extend the positive streak that saw him win three out of the last four races. After a few setup improvements and valuable data gained during the summer break tests, the Welshman has been unstoppable. Davies is only 33 points away from second overall in the Championship and with 100 points up for grabs in the next two Rounds, his first goal is to overtake second placed Tom Sykes (Kawasaki).

“We’ve been on a bit of a roll lately,” admitted Davies. “Theoretically we’re still in the title fight, but we’re a long way behind and we have the luxury to be able to race with nothing to lose. Third place in the championship is pretty much guaranteed but we want to do better than that. All we can do is carry on the recent good form, win races and see where that takes us. Last year in Jerez we had a good pace and managed to win a race and we’ve been fast there during the pre-season tests as well. So we have good reasons to be confident, especially coming off a double win from Magny-Cours, which was slightly unexpected because that was maybe not the best track for our bike.”

Giugliano was declared unfit for the races in France due to the worsening conditions of his right shoulder. The Italian underwent an intense physiotherapy and rehabilitation program over the last week and hopes to be able to partake in Round 12 at Jerez. Giugliano’s sixth place in the overall standings makes him eager to get back to form as soon as possible to fight for top positions.

“I feel better physically compared with the last round because right after the injury in Germany we weren’t able to fully identify the issues related to the trauma,” explained Giugliano. “Lately I’ve been undergoing a special treatment to improve the musculo-tendinous apparatus, which in France prevented me from having the necessary strength to race. The issue is not bothering me particularly under braking but rather in direction changes. Jerez doesn’t have chicanes so I expect less difficulties compared with Magny-Cours, where the injury was also more recent. We’re used to never giving up so we want to get back to our usual competitiveness as soon as possible.”

The Arubai.it Racing – Ducati squad will be back on track at 10:15am local time (GMT+2) on Friday the 14^th of October for the first free-practice session of the weekend.