#AustralianGP MotoGP J.2 Andrea Dovizioso “I made three mistakes on my fastest lap”

Qualifying proved catastrophic for Dovi, and one is left wondering by what miracle he could not lose contact at the World Championship with leader Marc Marquez, imperial at Phillip Island.

The situation is all the more serious for Dovizioso as no Ducati has been competitive on the Australian track since the start of the weekend. Andrea was the only representative of the brand in Q2, where he qualified eleventh out of twelve. The other Desmosedici ranked 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th and 22^e, preceding only Sam Lowes. The problem therefore did not come from Dovizioso but from his equipment.

The problem is that Andrea can't afford a poor result, because he is 11 points behind Marquez and then there are only two races left after Phillip Island. On the other hand Marquez is in top form, ahead of Dovi in ​​qualifying by more than a second (1.110). If Marquez does not have any problems, the gap between the Italian and the Spaniard on Sunday evening risks looking like a chasm.

To make matters worse, Andrea, who very rarely falls, fell quite violently while grabbing the brakes. He was not injured, but lost a lot of time.

To Andrea Dovizioso, who are " This result has nothing to do with reality or my speed. Eleventh place is a consequence of the fall. My pace was pretty good yesterday and in FP4. The only drivers who were fast with the medium were Marc, Zarco and me. All other drivers were rather slow with the medium. So we have good speed. But most drivers took the soft rear tire in FP4. And in Q2 I didn't have a good feeling, which would have allowed a really decent time. 

“Phillip Island has a special character, you have to have a lot of confidence in the fast corners, if you don't have the optimal feeling it's very easy to lose a tenth of a second in each corner. In addition to the bad feeling, I made three mistakes on my fastest lap, which should not be an excuse for the 1.1 second gap. My race pace will be very different... But starting eleventh can be a limit From my chances, I hope that doesn't happen. 

“In qualifying, I acquired knowledge that will be useful to me tomorrow. But in Q2 you need a perfect lap, which was difficult for me after the accident, but I'm not worried. It could be wet, it could be windy... The front tire is already at the limit, the soft and the medium, that's why I fell... Tomorrow many decisions will have to be made by all the competitors, including me , especially for the rear tire, but the choice of the front tire for the race will also be delicate. 

“It's always going to be the same for me, I can go faster and faster, because I adapt... But each driver has his own driving style, Márquez has his, Jorge has his, I mean it will be forever. We adapt to the bikes, the new regulations, the tires, but the driving style does not change fundamentally, I can be very happy with the speed I showed here. Compared to last year, I have grown considerably. »

Qualification results:

1 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'28.386

2 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1'28.719 to 0.333

3 Johann ZARCO FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'28.744 to 0.358

4 Andrea IANNONE ITA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 1'28.937 at 0.551

5 Jack MILLER AUS EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 1'28.964 to 0.578

6 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 1'29.030 at 0.644

7 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1'29.203 to 0.817

8 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 1'29.271 to 0.885

9 Bradley SMITH GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 1'29.321 at 0.935

10 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR LCR Honda 1'29.429 to 1.043

11 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 1'29.496 to 1.110

12 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'29.546 to 1.160

13 Alex RINS SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki

14 Tito RABAT SPA EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda

15 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team Ducati

16 Jorge LORENZO SPA Ducati Team Ducati

17 Loris BAZ FRA Reale Avintia Racing Ducati

18 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA OCTO Pramac Racing Ducati

19 Hector BARBERA SPA Reale Avintia Racing Ducati

20 Scott REDDING GBR OCTO Pramac Racing Ducati

21 Broc PARKES AUS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha

22 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Pull&Bear Aspar Team Ducati

23 Sam LOWES GBR Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia

Reference times:

Test record: 1'27.899 by Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) in 2013

Lap record: 1'28.108 by Marc Marquez (Honda) in 2013

Best top speed: 348,0 km/h for Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) in 2015

Provisional ranking of the World Championship:

1 Marc MARQUEZ-Honda 244 points

2 Andrea DOVIZIOSO-Ducati 233

3 Maverick VIÑALES-Yamaha 203

4 Dani PEDROSA-Honda 170

5 Valentino ROSSI-Yamaha 168

6 Johann ZARCO-Yamaha 125

7 Jorge LORENZO-Ducati 116

8 Danilo PETRUCCI-Ducati 111

9 Cal CRUTCHLOW-Honda 92

10 Jonas FOLGER-Yamaha 84

11 Alvaro BAUTISTA-Ducati 70

12 Aleix ESPARGARO-Aprilia 62

13 Jack MILLER-Honda 56

14 Scott REDDING-Ducati 56

15 Andrea IANNONE-Suzuki 50

16 Loris BAZ-Ducati 45

Manufacturers:

1 HONDA 294 points

2 DUCATI 273

3 YAMAHA 265

4 SUZUKI 77

5 APRILIA 64

6 KTM 51

Teams:

1 REPSOL HONDA TEAM 414 points

2 MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP 371

3 DUCATI TEAM 349

4 MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3 209

5 OCTO PRAMAC RACING 167

6 PULL&BEAR ASPAR TEAM 98

7 LCR HONDA 92

8 TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR 89

9 EG 0,0 MARC VDS 85

10 REALE AVINTIA RACING 70

11 APRILIA RACING TEAM GRESINI 67

12 RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING 56

Photo © Ducati