Andrea Dovizioso put in a superb lap in the decisive qualifying session for the Indianapolis Grand Prix to clinch the second quickest time, thus guaranteeing himself a front row start for tomorrow’s race. The Italian rider finished the Q2 session with a time of 1’31.844, just two-tenths of a second away from Marquez’s pole time.
It is the second time that Dovizioso has obtained a front-row start this year, after the one at Le Mans, while it is also the 92nd time in the history of MotoGP that a Ducati will start from the front row.
Cal Crutchlow continues to have a difficult weekend, although today he made a significant improvement over yesterday, lowering his time by over one second. Cal had to take part in Q1 and after gaining access to Q2, had to settle for 12th place and a row 4 start tomorrow.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 2nd (1’31.844)
“We needed that, the front row always helps! We have done a good job for the race and this weekend we have always been quick in all conditions. I am happy with the feeling and our speed, but I think in any case that the race will be a tough one so for the moment I’m enjoying the front row. I admit that following Marquez gave me a bit of a hand: I had the pace for a low 1’32 lap, but I followed him on his quick lap and I also got down under the 1’32 mark. Unfortunately after a few laps the tyres drop off quite a lot and for us it becomes more complicated. But we’ll see tomorrow: in any case starting up front helps a lot and I’ll try and take advantage of the situation as best as possible!”
Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team #35) – 12th (1’32.794)
“We’ve obviously been having a difficult weekend again, but at least I made it into Q2. I think we made quite a big improvement today and as a result I’m more optimistic after today’s performance than what I was yesterday. I’m still a little slow over the initial first lap but I think we found a better feeling and a better overall pace. We need to make a few set-up improvements in the warm-up tomorrow morning and then I look forward to having a better race tomorrow.”
