Without ever having won a MotoGP title, Dovi is currently demonstrating that he is an excellent World Championship manager. After good free practice, he settled for tenth place in qualifying in the wet, but for him this preserves all his chances, especially since his main opponent Maverick Vinales is behind him.
On the first day, Andrea set the fastest time of the first dry session, which could only give him and the Ducati team confidence. He was more discreet in the afternoon in the wet with the seventh fastest time. During the third session, qualifying for Q2, he set an eighth time, more than enough to be in the top 10.
The qualifying session went moderately well for Dovizioso, who did not want to fall and take the risk of injury while he is in the lead of the World Championship. He ranked in tenth position, that is to say just between Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales. It wasn't ideal, but the race promises to be difficult because the weather conditions can be complicated.
According to Andrea Dovizioso “ I'm not happy with my qualifying and starting from tenth place at Sachsenring is not ideal to say the least. It's strange to say, but we haven't been able to handle the situation in the best way possible.
“Today was the complete opposite of yesterday, as we did 25 laps in the wet without any drop in tire performance, but it was just a matter of feeling at the front.
“After four laps in Q2, we finished the rear tire and when I decided to push, I had no grip and I couldn't set a good time.
“Yesterday I did 24 laps on the same tire and managed to set my fastest time at the end. I had no issues with rear tire wear. But today I had the tires completely worn out, although I paid special attention to them during the last laps. But the track dried out very quickly and as a result my rear wheel had some grip at the end. Even the electronics weren't working as expected, so I was driving slowly, even though I tried to push.
“I wasn't expecting that, so I couldn't do better than tenth. In the race it should be better, but we must not forget that many drivers here are similar in speed. That's why it's hard to say who will be fast after 15 laps – especially because the weather forecast is so uncertain. What is certain is that we are not the fastest and that it would have been important to be on one of the first two lines. That's why I'm not happy.
“Too bad, but Rossi and Viñales are close to me on the grid and I hope we can recover positions in the race. »
Dovi preparing for FP3:
Almost time for #MotoGP to hit the track for # FP3 ➡️#GermanGP pic.twitter.com/z7NGpiV5Vq
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) July 1, 2017
Qualification results:
1- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – 1’27.302
2- Danilo Petrucci – OCTO Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 0.160
3- Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda Team - Honda RC213V - + 0.647
4- Cal Crutchlow – LCR Honda – Honda RC213V – + 0.787
5- Jonas Folger – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.908
6- Jorge Lorenzo – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 1.081
7- Pol Espargaro – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16 – + 1.100
8- Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Aprilia RS-GP – + 1.224
9- Valentino Rossi – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1 + 1.367
10- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 1.401
11- Maverick Vinales – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.380
12- Alvaro Bautista – Pull&Bear Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 1.525
13- Jack Miller – EG 0,0 Marc VDS – Honda RC213V
14- Loris Baz – Reale Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP
15- Bradley Smith – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16
16- Andrea Iannone – Team Suzuki Ecstar – Suzuki GSX-RR
17- Mika Kallio – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16
18- Hector Barbera – Reale Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP
19- Johann Zarco – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1
20- Karel Abraham – Pull&Bear Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP
21- Sam Lowes – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Aprilia RS-GP
22- Alex Rins – Team Suzuki Ecstar – Suzuki GSX-RR
23- Scott Redding – OCTO Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP
24- Tito Rabat – EG 0,0 Marc VDS – Honda RC213V
Reference times:
Test record: 1'20.336 by Marc Marquez (Honda) in 2015
Lap record: 1'21.530 by Marc Marquez (Honda) in 2015
Best top speed: 298,2 km/h for Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) in 2015
Provisional ranking of the World Championship:
1 Andrea DOVIZIOSO-Ducati 115 points
2 Maverick VIÑALES-Yamaha 111
3 Valentino ROSSI-Yamaha 108
4 Marc MARQUEZ-Honda 104
5 Dani PEDROSA-Honda 87
6 Johann ZARCO-Yamaha 77
7 Danilo PETRUCCI-Ducati 62
8 Jorge LORENZO-Ducati 60
9 Cal CRUTCHLOW-Honda 58
10 Jonas FOLGER-Yamaha 51
11 Jack MILLER-Honda 40
12 Alvaro BAUTISTA-Ducati 34
13 Scott REDDING-Ducati 33
14 Loris BAZ-Ducati 31
15 Andrea IANNONE-Suzuki 28
16 Aleix ESPARGARO-Aprilia 23
17 Tito RABAT-Honda 23
18 Hector BARBERA-Ducati 21
19 Karel ABRAHAM-Ducati 20
20 Pol ESPARGARO-KTM 11
