Ducati Team’s two Italian riders both got off to a good start at the Automotodrom Brno in the Czech Republic. Andrea Iannone finished the first day of free practice in third place, while his teammate Andrea Dovizioso was classified fifth.
In the morning’s 45-minute free practice run, Dovizioso and Iannone both lapped amongst the frontrunners, and they ended FP1 in fourth and fifth positions respectively.
In the early afternoon FP2 session, the two factory Ducati men switched between the two versions of the Desmosedici GP15 at their disposal, and in the final minutes of the session, Iannone bolted on a soft rear tyre to set a time of 1’56.750, which hoisted him to third place in the provisional standings. Dovizioso, who lapped throughout with a medium compound rear tyre, set a time of 1’56.821 in the morning and this earned him fifth place in the aggregate standings.
Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team #29) – 1’56.750 (3rd)
“Today things went better than at Indianapolis, but we have not yet been able to find an optimal set-up. In comparison with this morning the track conditions in FP2 were a lot worse and in the end we were unable to assess the difference between the two bikes available. I am struggling to ride without making any errors because in these conditions it is very easy to make a mistake and since we are still suffering with scarce grip at the rear, everything becomes more complicated. We still have to improve, especially in T2 where we lose a lot, and it is possible to make up a few vital tenths in that sector. For sure, this is an important aspect for the race, and so we will be working above all in this direction.”
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’56.821 (5th)
“I am quite pleased with the speed we have here at Brno because we are closer to our rivals and today I feel I could have gone much faster. In any case this is quite a difficult circuit because the track surface is in a rather critical state and in the afternoon there was less grip than in the morning. Now we have to work to make the bike turn in an easier and more constant way, because these are the factors that make all the difference in the race. In the afternoon session, we did several tests and the only thing to do now is to analyze all the information in order to find the best setting so as to be able to put in more laps tomorrow.”
