The first day of testing organized by Ducati at Zeltweg’s Red Bull Ring circuit, where the Austrian GP will be held on 14 August, came to an end this afternoon at 6 pm.
A total of 21 riders and test-riders from all manufacturers present in the MotoGP World Championship, were on hand to get to grips with the new Austrian circuit for the first time.
The Ducati Team lined up with its regular pairing of Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso, who were joined on this occasion by their special test-rider Casey Stoner.
The results of the first day of testing were excellent: Andrea Dovizioso set the quickest time of the day in 1’23.764, followed by his team-mate Andrea Iannone in 1’24.347, while Casey Stoner placed fourth, with a best lap of 1’24.502, behind Scott Redding (Pramac Racing) and a total of eight Ducati riders were classified in the top 10 (Barbera in sixth, Laverty in seventh, Petrucci in eighth and Hernandez in tenth).
Tomorrow the MotoGP riders will be out on track again from 8.30 am to 12.00 and then from 1 pm to 6 pm for the second and final day of testing.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’23.764 (1st)
“Today went really well: the track has some aggressive first and second gear acceleration areas and quite long straights, so it is suitable for the characteristics of our bike, and as a result it was quite easy to lap quickly. It was great to be constantly quick on this track and, even though it’s not one of the biggest and most spectacular tracks in the championship, it is in any case interesting to lap on a new circuit. Now we have to understand what tyres Michelin will bring for the race because it was also an important test for them. Here the tyre wear is particularly high because the bike tends to slide about on maximum lean and it spins a lot on the straight, so doing an entire race distance without any problems is going to be rather difficult.”
Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team #29) – 1’24.347 (2nd)
“It has been a very positive day for us because the track is really nice and adapts well to the characteristics of our Desmosedici GP: in fact we went really quick and I immediately established a good feeling. We worked a bit on the bike and also tested some new chassis parts, but all in all we made very few changes because the sensations were always very positive. I also did a mini long-run of 10 laps and my pace was rather good, very close to my best lap, so I am happy with how this first day went.”
Casey Stoner (Ducati Team #27) – 1’24.502 (4th)
“You can’t get a much more picturesque circuit than this, it’s something very special. The circuit has some nice parts but it’s a bit strange for bikes because some of the corners don’t flow well together, which makes it somewhat difficult. In general today has been quite good, the surface is fantastic and very smooth, the grip level seems somewhat medium but we’ll put some more rubber down and get a little bit more feeling on the track. This test is a little easier than Misano, where it was very hot and I hadn’t been on the bike for a long time, whereas today I didn’t struggle and it was easier for me on the bike. Today we’ve been trying a lot of comparisons with the bikes, with wings, without wings, lots of things to get data and it’s all been quite positive.”
