Three days of testing at the Losail circuit in Qatar, the venue for the opening round of the 2018 World Championship on 18th March, drew to a close this evening. In the last half hour all the riders went out for a short session on an artificially wet track to simulate rain conditions under floodlights.
Andrea Dovizioso finished the final day, and also the combined standings, in third place with 50 laps to his name and a time of 1’54.331, making use of the last half hour on a dry track to conclude a 10-lap stint on used tyres, while Jorge Lorenzo was ninth today and tenth overall with a time of 1’54.692 and 63 laps to his name.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04): 3rd – 1’54.331 (50 laps today)
“I’m very happy with the work we did these three days, because we were able to try everything we had planned and also to prepare well for the race, even though here in Qatar the conditions of the circuit change easily and in a couple of weeks they could be different to what we have encountered in these three days. During the test the track had a lot of grip, something that is usually difficult to find here at Losail, and in the various simulations we were fast and consistent, and so I’m very satisfied with our performance.”
Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team #99): 10th – 1’54.692 (63 laps today)
“Today went much better than yesterday, and we found a setting that allowed me to do several laps quite fast. However we once again suffered a bit when the temperature cooled down and the humidity increased. In these conditions we are still struggling to be competitive and keep a good pace. We should therefore focus on improving this aspect in view of the first round and we still have a lot of work to do to get the best out of our bike’s potential.”
