Andrea Dovizioso set the fifth fastest time of the day in 1’41.569, on lap eleven of the thirteen he completed during the morning’s FP1 session. The Italian then opted not to go out on track in the afternoon because the rain became heavier, which forced the organizers to red-flag the session after the first fifteen minutes.
His team-mate Hector Barbera was able to complete nineteen laps in the morning session, setting a best time of 1’44”792. In the afternoon the Spanish rider was the quickest out of the six riders who recorded a time, but he was unable to improve and finished the day in eighteenth place.
In order to give the MotoGP riders the possibility of partially making up for the time lost this afternoon due to the unfavourable weather conditions, the organizers have decided that the FP3 session scheduled for tomorrow morning will be extended from 45 to 60 minutes.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’41.569 (5th)
“This morning we encountered some rather extreme conditions and so we only really completed half a session because there was too much water on the track, but it was useful in any case because it helped us to understand how the tyres behave in the rain. In the end we set a good time, which puts us into fifth place, and now we have to see what sort of conditions we’ll find tomorrow. However I’m pretty pleased with the way I’ve started off this weekend.”
Hector Barbera (Ducati Team #8) – 1’44.792 (18th)
“Today was a bit complicated: this morning we had to make a few changes to the bike because it was the first time I had ridden the Desmosedici GP 2016 in the wet. Unfortunately in the afternoon I wasn’t able to do very much because of the weather conditions that made the track virtually unfit to ride and so I could only do three laps. Here at Phillip Island once again I have a superb bike and a great team at my disposal and therefore all the right conditions to be able to obtain a good result, but the bad weather made things a bit difficult, seeing as I also have the handicap of not knowing the bike well enough yet.”
