After his first podiums of the season at MotorLand Aragon, Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) was forced to wait until Imola for his next podium challenge, having been pushed back off the podium by the charging Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team riders of Michael van der Mark, and Alex Lowes – the latter of which finished fourth in both races.

Davies made a bright start to Race 1 but was pushed out at Turn 1 by Jonathan Rea scything through the order – both riders suffering from row three Superpole grid position slots. Having battled his way to seventh in Race 1, Davies was able to run as high as second in Race 2 before finishing in fifth.

Speaking after the race, a dejected but pragmatic Davies stated: “It was definite progress compared the first two rounds; jumping on the podium at Aragon was great but then coming to Assen and not getting a podium feels like somewhat a disappointment. Nevertheless, I felt like I could put together a decent second race, but it is pretty clear that we are still not quite there.”

Davies, who now trails his Rookie championship-leading teammate by 160 points, heads to Imola, in hope of a good result at a circuit which holds many happy memories for him.

“I feel like every weekend is a bit of a school weekend at the moment, we are always learning something. There is a lot to take away from this weekend, especially from the first race to the second race, where we made some very good improvements. We look forward now to Imola, where it a home race for Ducati so hopefully, we can put together the best of what we learnt in Aragon and Assen to put on a good race for the Ducatisti!”  

With four wins and three second place finishes at the famous Imola circuit, discounting Davies would be a silly thing to do. Will we see the Welshman fly high once more at the undulating Italian venue?

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