Many drivers set out to attack the time this Friday, despite a wet track with precarious grip. Andrea Dovizioso, always calm and logical, gave up temptation, keen to preserve his chances of snatching the 2017 MotoGP World Champion title from Marc Marquez.
Dovi is tackling a mountain, and he is fully aware of it. Especially in Aragon where Marc Marquez is imperial, with 6 pole positions in 7 Grands Prix contested at MotorLand, from 125 to MotoGP via Moto2. Dovizioso knows that Marquez is probably the fastest driver on this track in the dry, even though he has only won three Grands Prix there because he has sometimes failed to finish his races.
The leader of the Ducati team knows that there is no point in getting carried away on the first day on a wet track, especially since the weather forecast predicts great weather (and very hot weather) for the weekend. And if he needed reassurance about the GP17's performance on the wet MotorLand track, Lorenzo was there with the second time of this Friday.
Dovi knows that you can't make any mistakes at this time of the season. The accident of Valentino Rossi is present in his head and reminds him that he must avoid risks when possible, especially when faced with an overexcited imp like Marquez. Andrea therefore achieved the tenth time on Friday morning, 1.8 behind Marquez, then the eighth in the afternoon, 1.1 behind Pedrosa.
According to Andrea Dovizioso, “Today we weren't very lucky because it started raining just before each session and that made the day pretty much pointless.
“We worked a little on the electronics, but as there was too little water on the track and the tires wore out very quickly, we only did the number of laps required to be within ten first. On Saturday we will have to start from scratch. »
Results of the first day of free practice:
1- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – 1’59.858
2- Jorge Lorenzo – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 0.214
3- Johann Zarco – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.462
4- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 0.601
5- Karel Abraham – Pull&Bear Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 0.613
6- Cal Crutchlow – LCR Honda – Honda RC213V – + 0.624
7- Sam Lowes – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Aprilia RS-GP – + 0.727
8- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 1.104
9- Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Aprilia RS-GP – + 1.157
10- Pol Espargaro – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16 – + 1.184
11- Alvaro Bautista – Pull&Bear Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 1.245
12- Jack Miller – EG 0,0 Marc VDS – Honda RC213V – + 1.291
13- Bradley Smith – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16 – + 1.492
14- Andrea Iannone – Team Suzuki ECSTAR – Suzuki GSX-RR – + 1.613
15- Mika Kallio – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16 – + 1.634
16- Scott Redding – OCTO Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 1.658
17- Maverick Vinales – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.774
18- Jonas Folger – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.887
19- Danilo Petrucci – OCTO Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 1.952
20- Valentino Rossi – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 2.059
21- Alex Rins – Team Suzuki ECSTAR – Suzuki GSX-RR – + 2.219
22- Tito Rabat – EG 0,0 Marc VDS – Honda RC213V – + 2.534
23- Loris Baz – Reale Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 2.819
24- Hector Barbera – Reale Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 3.077
Provisional ranking of the World Championship:
1 Marc MARQUEZ-Honda 199 points
2 Andrea DOVIZIOSO-Ducati 199
3 Maverick VIÑALES-Yamaha 183
4 Valentino ROSSI-Yamaha 157
5 Dani PEDROSA-Honda 150
6 Johann ZARCO-Yamaha 110
7 Danilo PETRUCCI-Ducati 95
8 Cal CRUTCHLOW-Honda 92
9 Jorge LORENZO-Ducati 90
10 Jonas FOLGER-Yamaha 84
11 Alvaro BAUTISTA-Ducati 62
12 Scott REDDING-Ducati 54
13 Jack MILLER-Honda 53
14 Aleix ESPARGARO-Aprilia 43
15 Loris BAZ-Ducati 39
16 Andrea IANNONE-Suzuki 33
17 Pol ESPARGARO-KTM 31
18 Karel ABRAHAM-Ducati 28
19 Alex RINS-Suzuki 27
20 Tito RABAT-Honda 27
21 Hector BARBERA-Ducati 23
22 Michele PIRRO-Ducati 18
Photos © Ducati
