Chaz Davies says Ducati have work to do in order to make their Panigale R machine quicker in a straight line after struggling against their rivals in Thailand. The Welshman felt his motorcycle was being left behind by the likes of Kawasaki, Aprilia and Suzuki on the long straights of the Chang International Circuit and adds that his crashes in each of the WSBK races came as he tried to make up the lost ground.
“I’m really disappointed with how today’s races went. It was very difficult as I was constantly having to push, riding at the limit, to fight with the others. The fact that there are three straights here really hindered us today… We made some changes for race 2 and the bike was better, but then the race went more or less like the first one. The crash was different, I lost grip at the rear on entering Turn 3 but then the second part of the race was similar. I tried to make up as many positions as possible. The lap times were good and when I find myself riding alone I have a lot less trouble. When I’m fighting with the others, I have a lot more trouble with initial acceleration and on the straight, losing too much ground which means I then have to force the entry. I have faith in the technicians at Borgo Panigale and their work to find us some more power ahead of the next races…”
Ducati’s SBK Project Director Ernesto Marinelli believes the Panigale is losing out at the beginning of the straights, the machine lacking on acceleration, but remains confident that the bike will be competitive throughout the year.
‘’It definitely hasn’t been an easy weekend for us and unfortunately Chaz crashed in both races. We were missing a bit of acceleration out of the slow corners and this is what we need to focus on in coming weeks. We have nevertheless demonstrated again here in Thailand that the Panigale R is a competitive bike. After the crashes Chaz was able to continue and, especially in Race 2, he maintained the same pace as the leaders, lapping with really fast times. Now we have to roll up our sleeves and look ahead to give it our all in the next races.”
