Davies held back by arm pump

Chaz Davies says he can’t be happy with his Donington Park results while his final race charge was hampered by arm pump on his Aruba.it Racing Ducati.

The Welsh rider remains in eighth place in the World Superbike riders’ standings following a tough home round struggling for front-running pace throughout at a circuit where the new Ducati V4 R was unable to exploit its strong points.

Davies says he pace was also hit by arm pump pain in the final race at the physically-demanding Donington Park as he held on to take ninth place after claiming seventh place in the earlier red-flagged Superpole sprint race.

“The start and the first few laps [of race two] were good and I got up to fifth place, then things got a bit more difficult. After a few more laps my pace faded, because I had pretty bad arm pump as well,” Davies said. “Donington is a bit of a strange circuit that requires a lot of physical effort; today things were tougher especially with me fighting the bike as much as I am.

“It was a really tough day. After the Superpole race, I was optimistic that we could potentially have a decent long race. We made some changes and felt the bike was a bit better.

“Unfortunately, there’s not much to be happy about after a weekend like this one, but now I can’t wait to get to Laguna, which is a track I like a lot.”

Davies has just one week to recover until the United States round at Laguna Seca which has been a happier hunting ground for the Ducati rider with three career victories at the Monterrey circuit while he also clinched a double podium last year.