After his unforgettable victory obtained last Sunday at the Italian Grand Prix, Dovi once again climbed into the group of podium contenders in Barcelona. He thus proved the intact intensity of his motivation, certainly reinforced by the presence of five Ducatis among the first ten on the starting grid.
He ranked second among the drivers of Desmosedics, fifth overall, 0.4 behind leader Dani Pedrosa, in the rather tricky morning session because they had to qualify directly among the fastest for Q2, on a track whose layout had been modified compared to the day before.
He chose to test a used rear tire during the fourth free practice session, in order to analyze the behavior that his bike could have on Sunday in the second part of the race. In these conditions, we should not expect a very competitive time, and Andrea achieved the seventeenth time, 1.037 behind the leader. Dani Pedrosa, who like most of his opponents started on new tires.
In qualifying, Dovi took seventh place, 0.5 behind pole position man Dani Pedrosa. He only missed the second line by seven hundredths of a second.
For Andrea Dovizioso, “Today was an intense and demanding day, but in the end I am delighted with the way we worked because we were able to improve my feeling and it was very difficult due to the very low grip.
“There are a lot of holes on the track, and a lot of drivers crashed today, and it wasn't easy at all. We have a good race pace even if we were not able to demonstrate it because in FP4 we decided to take a used medium rear tire, unlike our opponents, and now only the race can tell us what is our actual position.
“In qualifying, I didn't have the perfect feeling with the soft tires, but despite that, I placed well. I think if we have a good start, we can have a say in the outcome of the race tomorrow. »
Qualification results:
1- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – 1’43.870
2- Jorge Lorenzo – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 0.331
3- Danilo Petrucci – OCTO Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 0.350
4- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 0.450
5- Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Aprilia RS-GP – + 0.478
6- Hector Barbera – Reale Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 0.511
7- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 0.581
8- Jonas Folger – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.730
9- Maverick Vinales – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.750
10- Alvaro Bautista – Pull&Bear Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 0.870
11- Scott Redding – OCTO Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 0.982
12- Andrea Iannone – Team Suzuki Ecstar – Suzuki GSX-RR – + 1.058
13- Valentino Rossi – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1
14- Johann Zarco – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1
15- Jack Miller – EG 0,0 Marc VDS – Honda RC213V
16- Loris Baz – Reale Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP15
17- Cal Crutchlow – LCR Honda – Honda RC213V
18- Karel Abraham – Pull&Bear Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP15
19- Tito Rabat – EG 0,0 Marc VDS – Honda RC213V
20- Pol Espargaro – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16
21- Sam Lowes – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Aprilia RS-GP
22- Sylvain Guintoli – Team Suzuki Ecstar – Suzuki GSX-RR
Provisional ranking of the World Championship:
1 Maverick VIÑALES-Yamaha 105 points
2 Andrea DOVIZIOSO-Ducati 79
3 Valentino ROSSI-Yamaha 75
4 Marc MARQUEZ-Honda 68
5 Dani PEDROSA-Honda 68
6 Johann ZARCO-Yamaha 64
7 Jorge LORENZO-Ducati 46
8 Danilo PETRUCCI-Ducati 42
9 Jonas FOLGER-Yamaha 41
10 Cal CRUTCHLOW-Honda 40
11 Scott REDDING-Ducati 30
12 Jack MILLER-Honda 30
13 Alvaro BAUTISTA-Ducati 25
14 Andrea IANNONE-Suzuki 21
15 Loris BAZ-Ducati 19
16 Tito RABAT-Honda 18
17 Aleix ESPARGARO-Aprilia 17
18 Hector BARBERA-Ducati 14
19 Karel ABRAHAM-Ducati 9
20 Michele PIRRO-Ducati 7
21 Alex RINS-Suzuki 7
22 Pol ESPARGARO-KTM 6
23 Bradley SMITH-KTM 6
24 Sam LOWES-Aprilia 2
25 Sylvain GUINTOLI-Suzuki 1
Photos © Ducati
