Andrea Dovizioso was classified thirteenth with his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo seventeenth after the first two free practice sessions for the French GP held today at the Le Mans Bugatti circuit.
Dovizioso had an excellent afternoon FP2 session, which was held in pouring rain, and he topped the timesheets with a lap of 1’41.673. This morning however the Ducati Team’s Italian rider did not fit slick tyres towards the end of the FP1, when the track was already drying out and he remains for the moment outside the top 10.
Lorenzo’s morning session on a dry track was a positive one, but he did not make the most of the slicks fitted at the end and he finished the day down in seventeenth place, after not being able to establish a good feeling with his bike in FP2.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’41.673 (13th)
“I’m pleased to have finished FP2 in first place, and just as well I brought the bike back to the box all in one piece because I almost crashed on the last laps! I was pushing hard because I knew that a time of 1’41.3 would have been enough to get into the top 10, and I tried right until the end, but I exaggerated a bit and lost the front under braking at the final corner. Apart from that, today the conditions were rather difficult but the track grip is good. Our Ducati goes well in the wet and we tackled the two sessions calmly: the feeling improved lap after lap and I set some good times. I’m satisfied with my FP2 but hopefully the track will be dry tomorrow.”
Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team #99) – 1’41.947 (17th)
“This morning, with the track a bit damp, I immediately found a good feeling with my Desmosedici and, without pushing hard, I was always amongst the quickest riders, relatively easily as well. However, when the lines dried out towards the end of the session, we fitted slicks a bit late and I didn’t find the right feeling. There were still some damp patches and I didn’t want to take any risks, so for the moment I am out of Q2. In the afternoon on the other hand, in the heavy rain, I didn’t have a good feeling, especially because I was lacking grip in the rear, but tomorrow morning we’ll try and find the right setting, which will allow us to be competitive in any weather and track conditions.”
