Andrea Dovizioso powered to a superb pole position for tomorrow’s Assen TT Grand Prix, which will take place tomorrow at the spectacular Dutch circuit.
The Italian set the quickest time overall of 1’45.246 on his final lap of qualifying, which was held on a wet track. Dovizioso used rain tyres in Q2 while his team-mate Andrea Iannone instead opted to go out on intermediate tyres mid-session and he was ninth quickest with a time of 1’47.567. The Vasto rider will however start from the final row of the grid tomorrow due to the penalty he picked up after the Catalunya Grand Prix.
This morning’s FP3 session was held in dry conditions and Dovizioso was quickest in 1’33.308, while Iannone, with one eye on the race, was on used tyres throughout the session and classified ninth, just a shade slower than his team-mate. Both factory Ducati riders went through directly into the afternoon’s Q2 session.
After the final pre-qualifying free practice run, in which Iannone finished sixth and Dovizioso twelfth, had been held in the rain, the two Italians went out for Q2 and Dovizioso clinched his first pole of the year, the fourth in his career.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’45.246 (1st)
“I am very happy with the job we have done in these four sessions. This morning in the dry we were quickest, with a good pace, but this afternoon it wasn’t so much a question of pace in the wet, but more of being ready to analyze the situation, which was constantly changing. We had opted for a one-run strategy, because it didn’t look like the track was drying out, but after two laps I saw that a few dry lines were forming and, even though it was still raining a bit, I decided to stop to fit a new rear rain tyre, despite the fact that we hadn’t agreed on this with the team. On returning to the track I was also lucky to tuck in behind Rossi: I had already identified the corners where I could push like on the dry track, while in the others I just followed him. As always it’s going to be tough to fight with the leading group, but tomorrow we’ll give it a go”.
Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team #29) – 1’47.567 (9th)
“I think that today was a very positive day for us, because this morning we did the entire session with used tyres and covered a distance that was greater than what we will do in the race. Despite this we finished the session with a good time and above all a good pace, which means that in dry conditions we are competitive. In the wet on the other hand, we have a bit more difficulty because the front tends to turn in, but all things considered in the few laps I did in FP4 we didn’t go badly. As for the qualifying session, seeing as I had nothing to lose, I tried to do a different strategy by using intermediate tyres. Unfortunately it didn’t work out the way I expected, even though I think that with one more lap I could have surely been quicker. In any case we are ready for the race, and even if we are starting from last place, we’ll do our best to get a good result.”
