The two Ducati Team riders – Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone – concluded today’s qualifying session for the GP of Catalunya, round 7 of the MotoGP World Championship, in fifth and twelfth place. As a result they will line up for Sunday’s 25-lap race at the Montmelò circuit on the outskirts of Barcelona on rows 2 and 4.
Dovizioso recorded fourth-quickest time in FP3 in the morning, which grants access to Q2, thus moving directly into the session. Iannone, who has been having a bit more difficulty in setting up his bike, concluded the combined free practice runs in twelfth place and was forced to take part in Q1.
During the early afternoon’s final FP4 run, Iannone managed to improve his pace to conclude the session in first place, and immediately after he took part in Q1 where he finished second behind Pedrosa.
On his second exit with soft tyres in the decisive Q2 session, Dovizioso went fifth quickest in 1’40.907, while Iannone was unable to make the best of his second soft tyre due to an error that slowed him on his quick lap, and as a result he finished qualifying in twelfth place, which guaranteed him a row 4 start in tomorrow’s GP of Catalunya.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’40.907 (5th)
“We have to be pleased with the qualifying result and the time we set. It’s true we start from row 2, but my time is not bad at all. We’re still missing something in the set-up and the conditions are not the same as in the other races, but we are all close together and with some small improvements we can get closer to the frontrunners, seeing as the track conditions in the afternoon help to mix up the cards a bit. We have worked well and now we have to concentrate on the fine-tuning so we can make a further step forward for the race.”
Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team #29) – 1’41.524 (12th)
“Today during qualifying I did not get the best out of my bike’s potential and was unable to obtain the result I had expected. During my second run with a soft tyre, I made a mistake while I was improving my time and this prevented me from getting a better result. I am disappointed about having to start from so far behind, but I’m still positive about tomorrow because I feel that with a good start I can do a good race. My race pace does not seem to be bad and today in FP4 I went quite well, so I am pretty confident. Now we have to focus on the details so as to be ready for tomorrow’s race, where it will be important to start well.”
