Qualifying day at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli proved unsatisfying for the Ducati Team, with Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden posting times that will have them starting tomorrow’s GP di San Marino e Riviera di Rimini from the third and fourth rows, respectively.
Although neither rider was satisfied with his lap time or qualifying position, Dovizioso was relatively pleased with his race pace. Meanwhile, Hayden and his team will use tomorrow’s warm-up session to try to improve the performance of the Desmosedici GP13 over bumps and on changes of direction.
Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team, 9th (1:34.338)
“I’m really disappointed with qualifying because I wasn’t able to put together a perfect lap, and starting from the third row will make things difficult. It was important to try to make row two here because the first few corners are challenging, and it’s difficult to overtake riders. We might have the pace to fight for sixth place, which is something we haven’t had in recent races, so that’s fairly positive. It will be a long and difficult race, but we’re in a bit better shape than we have been for the other races.”
Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team, 10th (1:34.362)
“Obviously, things aren’t going as well here as we’d like, as tenth in qualifying is a long way from the top. The actual lap time wasn’t so bad, but nonetheless, the others are far away. We’re struggling a lot over the bumps and with edge grip, especially in the last corner. We’ve got some issues to sort out so we’ll definitely try something in the warm-up to see if we can improve the pace. We know tomorrow’s going to be a hard race, but anyway, we’ll line up and do our best.”
