Andrea Dovizioso confirmed this Friday a Ducati domination on a Red Bull Ring track which suits the Desmosedici perfectly. That said, be careful. The one who is third in the championship warns: this positive start does not bode well for a future where the competition turns out to be much more dangerous than last year. The fins have disappeared and, above all, the Yamahas are there. Apparently, for Dovi, more than the Hondas.
But before going into details, let's note that Dovizioso took the plunge. Reluctant in Brno, he fell for Austria. What about ? That of the new fairing. The Italian decided for the latest opus grafted onto the GP17: “ I think it is better suited for this route. Even if we lack comparison. But we don't want to waste any more time. We trust the testing done with this fairing. And we concentrate on making the bike progress with ».
The path now being traced, it remains to assess the competition after this Friday: “ they are closer to us than last year. We no longer have the wings and we have lost an advantage. It makes a difference on this circuit. We are still ahead, but we have to see how things will develop on Saturday. I am particularly convinced that the Yamaha riders will perform well ».
Attention paid to the M1 while no word is said about the RC213V. And yet, the official Yamahas do not use the new fairing… “ I'm not the one who could explain it to you. It is assumed that they would lose too much top speed if they used their new fairing ».
DesmoDovi therefore avoids bragging, especially since nothing has yet been done regarding tires: “ we were not able to try them properly. I rode in the afternoon with my worn tires from the morning and my times weren't too bad. But we haven't done enough laps to make a decision. The difference between medium and soft is not obvious at the moment ».
Jorge Lorenzo, his teammate who came to Austria for, at least, a podium, is fifth at the end of this first day in Styria.
#AustriaGP MotoGP J.1: Chronos
| 1 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 1'24.046 | ||
| 2 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | 1'24.280 | 0.234 | 0.234 |
| 3 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | 1'24.474 | 0.428 | 0.194 |
| 4 | 5 | johann zarco | Yamaha | 1'24.522 | 0.476 | 0.048 |
| 5 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Ducati | 1'24.616 | 0.570 | 0.094 |
| 6 | 93 | Marc Márquez | Honda | 1'24.649 | 0.603 | 0.033 |
| 7 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 1'24.668 | 0.622 | 0.019 |
| 8 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 1'24.726 | 0.680 | 0.058 |
| 9 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Ducati | 1'24.765 | 0.719 | 0.039 |
| 10 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Ducati | 1'24.780 | 0.734 | 0.015 |
| 11 | 44 | Pol Espargaró | KTM | 1'24.859 | 0.813 | 0.079 |
| 12 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | 1'24.883 | 0.837 | 0.024 |
| 13 | 76 | Loris BAZ | Ducati | 1'24.925 | 0.879 | 0.042 |
| 14 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 1'24.935 | 0.889 | 0.010 |
| 15 | 94 | Jonas Folger | Yamaha | 1'24.992 | 0.946 | 0.057 |
| 16 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | 1'25.218 | 1.172 | 0.226 |
| 17 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | Ducati | 1'25.258 | 1.212 | 0.040 |
| 18 | 22 | Sam LOWES | Aprilia | 1'25.270 | 1.224 | 0.012 |
| 19 | 36 | Mika Kallio | KTM | 1'25.320 | 1.274 | 0.050 |
| 20 | 43 | Jack Miller | Honda | 1'25.335 | 1.289 | 0.015 |
| 21 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | 1'25.369 | 1.323 | 0.034 |
| 22 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 1'25.452 | 1.406 | 0.083 |
| 23 | 53 | Tito RABAT | Honda | 1'25.616 | 1.570 | 0.164 |
| 24 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | 1'25.664 | 1.618 | 0.048 |
