Ducati Team rider Jorge Lorenzo will start tomorrow’s Italian GP at the Mugello Circuit in Tuscany from the front row of the grid after a terrific qualifying session. The Spanish rider was second quickest in Q2 with a time of 1’46.243, just 35 thousandths away from Rossi’s pole time.
This morning Lorenzo had set a time of 1’46.782 to slot into third place in the combined times and go directly through into the afternoon’s crucial Q2 run.
Seventh quickest time and a row 3 start went to Andrea Dovizioso (1’46.500). the Italian rider had finished the morning’s FP3 session with the tenth time and he also went through directly into Q2.
The Italian Grand Prix, held over a distance of 23 laps, will get underway tomorrow afternoon at 14.00 CET.
Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team #99) – 2nd (1’46.243)
“I’m very pleased with this second position, but above all with the positive feelings I’ve had ever since I arrived at Mugello. I just missed out on my first pole position with Ducati by a few thousandths, but in any case I’m satisfied with the work that we’ve done and I think the new fuel tank is helping me a lot to make the difference. For tomorrow the important thing will be the choice of front tyre, which at this circuit and in this heat, suffers a lot, and it’ll be a hard-fought race because there are many riders with a good pace. The most important thing however is that we can be there and fight for the win!”
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 7th (1’46.500)
“I’m satisfied with today: yesterday unfortunately we didn’t manage to work well and as a result this morning we started behind quite a lot. In the end however we were able to get inside the top 10 and go through directly into Q2, and this afternoon we confirmed we have a good pace with the soft used tyres. We’re all rather on the limit and tomorrow I expect a race in a group, but I know that we are very fast. Also in qualifying I did a good lap, and even though I’m only seventh on the grid, I believe I have a good pace and I can’t wait to do the race.”
