Second in 2015 at Losail behind Valentino Rossi and second again last year, this time behind his teammate this year Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Dovizioso can easily pass for one of the main favorites for the first Grand Prix of the year.
The Ducati is very comfortable on the Qatari circuit, because with Dovi we found his then teammate on the podium in 2015 Andrea Iannone. The most direct threat could come from Maverick Vinales, best time of the recent MotoGP tests in Qatar. But Dovi was then only 0.07 behind Vinales. On the other hand, the Italian has the experience of managing a Desmosedici over all 22 laps of the Losail race, several years in a row, which is not the case for Maverick with his new Yamaha.
The other obvious danger for Andrea is her new teammate Jorge Lorenzo, always excellent in Qatar. The Spaniard recently estimated that in Doha “ Dovi will probably be faster than me, like in pre-season testing. I will try to do my best, as he will too. Dovi's experience on this bike counts, indeed a lot. It seems to be a little complicated to understand ". And it is even more so over the entire distance of a race, with the management of worn tires at the end of the event.
It is this Thursday that Andrea celebrates his 31st birthday, born on March 23, 1986 in Forlimpopoli. According to him, " In testing ten days ago at this circuit we did a good job, and we come here ready for the different conditions we might encounter.
“I'm happy that we were able to confirm our good performance and the competitive level of the bike, so I think we can aim for a good result. As always at the start of the season we still have some aspects to resolve, especially for the race, because on this circuit it is not easy to keep the same pace for 22 laps and the nature of the track makes it consume a lot of energy.
“In the last two years however, I have always fought for victory and I hope to find myself in the same situation again this year, although I know it will not be easy because some of our rivals have an excellent pace. I am optimistic for the race and I am clearly aiming for the podium. »
Photos © Ducati
