The three-day MotoGP testing session at the Buriram International Circuit, where the first Thailand Grand Prix will be held on October 7th, concluded at 5 pm this afternoon.
The two Ducati Team riders made the most of the three days to familiarize themselves with the new circuit and to try out the new components and material made available by their team.
The combined standings saw Andrea Dovizioso, who today did 58 laps and concluded his testing programme early in the afternoon, finish seventh overall with a time of 1’30.192 while his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who also went out at the end of the day, was unable to improve his time from yesterday and he finished the test in sixteenth place (1’30.729).
The MotoGP riders will be back on the track from 1st to 3rd March at Losail in Qatar, in preparation for the opening round of the season at the same circuit on 18th March.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04): 1’30.192 (7th) – 58 laps today
“These were three very useful days, in which we were able to do a lot of work and test the fairings, the frame and the other new material that Ducati brought here to Thailand. It wasn’t an easy job because it was really hot out there and this track is a bit unusual, but we gathered lots of useful information and confirmed that the GP18 is a very competitive bike. To get a better idea of the form of our rivals, we also have to see what tyre they set their times with, but in my opinion here at Buriram we are in good shape, just like in Malaysia. I’m going back home very happy and ready to leave again in a couple of weeks’ time for Qatar, where we want to prepare well for the first round of the 2018 championship.”
Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team #99): 1’30.729 (16th) – 68 laps today
“Unfortunately for me these have been three very complicated days, because I was never able to be really competitive. I didn’t feel at ease on the GP18 and yesterday we also had a few doubts so we decided to do a back-to-back test with last year’s bike. As always happens, there are good and bad points with both versions, but at the moment it seems that the GP18 has a greater potential so we will focus on this bike in the next test in Qatar.”
