Both Ducati Team riders had a good qualifying session today at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit. Andrea Iannone set the third-quickest time and will start from the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s Argentina Grand Prix, while Andrea Dovizioso will line up on row 2 with sixth-quickest time.
On a bright sunny day, with an air temperature of around 26 degrees, the Ducati Team riders took to the track in the morning’s FP3 session, notching up the third (Iannone) and fourth-quickest (Dovizioso) times, as a result guaranteeing their passage into the all-important Q2 session.
In the afternoon, following the 30 minutes of FP4 which concluded with Dovizioso in fourth and Iannone in seventh, the two Italian riders got ready to go out on track shortly after for the second qualifying run, this time decisive for the first four rows of the grid.
On his second run with the medium compound rear tyre, Iannone was third quickest with a lap of 1’38.467,around six-tenths away from poleman Marquez, while Dovizioso had to settle for sixth place and row 2, with a time of 1’38.520.
Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team #29) – 1’38.467 (3rd)
“I am pleased because the front row was one of our aims and we managed to achieve it, but together with my team we still have to try and find a solution to get the best out of the soft tyre. In any case we did a good job, and my team helped me a lot this weekend. I managed to improve and get the best set-up for my GP15 in each session, and this is vitally important. For sure tomorrow it will be important to get a good start and I must try not to stress the rear tyre too much, in particular because we do not have the extra-hard compound, and I hope to be there fighting with the leaders throughout the race.”
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’38.520 (6th)
“I am satisfied with the work that we have done, because we arrived in FP4 both competitive and fast and we even managed to improve a little. We also did a comparison run of the two front tyres available and in this heat the hard one goes a bit better. In qualifying I was unable to put together a good complete lap, and it’s a pity that I missed out on the front row by so little, but it’s not a big problem. In my opinion it will be a very difficult race because everyone will have to manage their rear tyres, but we are fast and so it will be very important to get a good start. Only in the race will we really see what the pace is, but above all who will manage to be consistent for the whole 25 laps.”
