Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team-mates Marco Melandri and Chaz Davies continue with their impressive pace aboard their Panigale R machines, making them a force to be reckoned with as the World Superbike World Championship counts down to the season opener next month.

Both riders stuck to a meticulous testing programme over the two days at Jerez, and the duo were able to put in some very consistent times across the 250 laps they recorded as a team. Ending the two days with just 0.011s to split them, returning Melandri came out on top ahead of Davies.

Engine, electronic and chassis upgrades have been developed for the 2017 Ducati, and the pair focused on making many set up comparisons.

Melandri ended the test with a time of 1:40.313, and left with a good feeling: “It’s been a really positive test. I expected some more difficulties after the meniscus surgery, but actually I felt quite well. The team is doing a great job and everyday I feel more comfortable on the bike. We still struggle a bit on fresh tyres, also because with the cold climate it’s more difficult to warm them up, but we’re heading in the right direction. I would have liked to do a race simulation, but we’ll wait until Portimão because I had some blisters in my hands after such a long break. Physically I feel fine though, I recovered completely and I’m sure I’ll be 100 percent fit for Phillip Island.”

Welshman Davies points out they have more work to do, but his lap time (1:40.324) still put him in the top five: “All in all, this first test has been OK. It’s always a bit tiring from a physical standpoint because we step on the bike for the first time in two months, but we progressively got into the swing of things. Also, Ducati brought a lot of stuff and we ticked off the most important items on the list, but we still got work to do in Portimão. We got progressively quicker, even mixing things up a bit in terms of our setup. That’s what testing is about, working through a program slowly but surely to step up to new challenges. If I had to race tomorrow, we would probably stick to a more familiar setting, but we’ll focus on pushing the boundaries before heading to Australia.”