Ducati in Thailand
Lorenzo has had a run of three consecutive poles positions, something he hasn’t done for six years and something that hasn’t happened for Ducati since 2008 with Stoner.
Dovizioso’s second place in Aragón was his fourth consecutive podium and his best-ever run of results of his entire sporting career: he has two victories, a second and a third, for a total of 86 points out of a possible 100.
Ducati is familiar with victory at the Chang International Circuit, as they won the second Superbike race this year with Chaz Davies.
Dovizioso’s Ducati reached 334.30 Km/h during the pre-season test, which was the highest speed recorded at the Buriram track.
Curiosities
Thailand is hosting a GP for the first time in history. It is being held at the Chang International Circuit which has the moniker ‘The destination of speed.’ The name of the circuit comes from its main sponsor, Chang Beer.
The layout has a total of 12 corners and 7 braking points, with two very different areas. The first half consists of long straights and ‘stop & go’ style braking, and the second half is a series of connecting corners.
The strongest braking occurs coming into turn 3, which goes from 330 km/h to 75 km/h over a distance of 240 meters in 5.5 seconds.
The straight that leads to turn 3 is 1,000 meters long, making it the 5th longest of the entire calendar, behind COTA, Mugello, Argentina and Montmeló.
The asphalt temperature, which can reach 60ºC, is one of the most worrisome factors, since the tyres can reach over 150ºC which causes them to lose grip, skid, and rise in temperature even more.
1’29.781 is the fastest lap by a MotoGP machine at the Buriram track.
0.948 seconds separated the first and the 16th finisher in the pre-season tests.
The Thai circuit is located in the small town of Buriram, 410 km northeast of Bangkok. The name of the city means “City of Happiness”.
