Ducati has confirmed that Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano will compete on 1199 Panigales in the 2014 and 2015 World Superbike Championship.
The Italian manufacturer is determined to bounce back after a disappointing year for the 1199 Panigale, which failed to deliver the results expected in WSB despite its considerable success in many national championships and the highly-competitive FIM Superstock Cup.
The new Ducati Superbike riders will immediately join technicians of the Ducati development team to start work today and tomorrow at Jerez de la Frontera (Spain), carrying out the first of three test sessions planned for the winter break.
Meanwhile, Former Suzuki MotoGP, WSB and BSB rider John Hopkins will spearhead Tyco Suzuki’s 2014 British Superbike Championship aboard the TAS Racing GSX-R1000. ??The 2011 BSB runner-up, who narrowly lost the title at the final race of the season at Brands Hatch by 6/1000ths-of-a-second, has agreed terms with the Northern Ireland-based team; after spending 12 months-off racing to recover from operations to repair old injuries. ??Said the 30-year-old: “I’m really excited to be coming back to British Superbike in 2014 and delighted to be joining Tyco Suzuki. It’s been a long year away from racing getting my body healthy. I’m feeling good and I’ve also become a brand-new dad. I feel better than I have done in a lot of years and I’m really excited to be getting back out on track; especially on the Suzuki GSX-R1000.”
Chaz Davies was born 10 February, 1987 in Knighton, Wales, and started racing in minimoto in 1995, winning the championship title in this rookie category the following year and retaining it until 1998. From 2002-2006 he competed at world championship level in the 125GP category, moving up to 250GP soon after. After additional experience in the AMA championship he was selected to take part in the World Supersport Championship and in 2011 became World Supersport champion. The following year he moved up to World Superbike, a category in which he scored his first victory in 2012 and three more in 2013.
Davide Giugliano was born in Rome on 28 October, 1989, and started racing in 2005 in the European Superstock 600 championship, finishing third overall the following year. After a year in the World Supersport Championship he switched to FIM Superstock 1000 Cup and in 2011 rode the Ducati 1098 R to championship victory competing for the Althea Racing team. Giugliano made his superbike debut in 2011, riding as a wildcard at Portimão immediately after clinching the Superstock Cup title. In 2012 he became an official rider for the Genesio Bevilacqua team alongside Carlos Checa, taking two podiums and closing the season 10th overall. In 2013, he achieved one pole position and two more podiums in the World Superbike series, finishing the championship in 6th position.