Both Ducati Team riders finished inside the top 10 on the first day of free practice for the Spanish Grand Prix, the fourth round of the MotoGP World Championship which will be held this weekend at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit in Andalusia.
Andrea Dovizioso, who topped the timesheets in the morning’s FP1 session, further improved his time in the afternoon to finish the day in sixth place with a lap of 1’39.068, followed by his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who was just a fraction behind in seventh place with a time of 1’39.076.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 6th – 1’39.068
“It was a positive first day, one in which we confirmed the results of the test here in November and, even though the temperature was different today, I was able to establish a good feeling with my Desmosedici GP. This afternoon we tried some other things but we couldn’t improve and when I put the new tyre on I didn’t feel quite right on the second bike. All in all however we have started off with a good base, even though it’s still not enough and so tomorrow we will have to improve.”
Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team #99) – 7th – 1’39.076
“Today we did a lot of tests and we found some good solutions. Some of the updates we have brought here to Jerez have been positive, but there are some corners where I’m still really struggling to get the bike to turn and I’m losing a few tenths. I’m not completely satisfied because I wanted to finish the day inside the top 5, but on my good lap I had a small problem with the gearbox and I wasn’t able to get my time down. Today it didn’t rain in the end and I hope that the weather stays good tomorrow so we can continue to work like today, because I think we have a lot of room for improvement.”
