After winning the Qatar Grand Prix, Andrea Dovizioso was hoping for much better than eighth place on the starting grid in Argentina. But he saved the essentials, and a lot will now depend on the weather conditions.
The first day of this Argentine Grand Prix was not very easy for Andrea, who obtained an honest eighth time in the morning at 0.6 behind. Dani Pedrosa, but who had clearly more difficulties in the afternoon. Lacking confidence in his machine, he had to settle for fifteenth place overall for the day.
He hoped to improve during the third free practice session on Saturday morning, but the unfavorable weather did not allow it. He therefore had to go through Q1 in order to have a chance of qualifying for Q2. The controversial statements of his teammate Jorge Lorenzo did not create a very pleasant or positive atmosphere in the team.
Time for #MotoGP to return to the track 💪
Dog @AndreaDovizioso overcome his Friday woes?#ArgentinaGP pic.twitter.com/LV5Ts45IGy
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) April 7, 2018
Andrea qualified in Q1, although only finishing second behind Aleix Espargaro. But the important thing was to participate in Q2, which Dovizioso did brilliantly. In Q2, Dovi set the eighth time, which will allow him to start from the center of the third row of the starting grid.
According to Andrea Dovizioso, « I had to take a lot of risks to get through to Q2, because there were fast drivers in Q1. It's difficult to qualify in Q1 first and then do another fast lap. I was happy with the third row, especially considering how Friday was.
“If we have a race in the wet, I will be competitive. Also on Saturday, in mixed conditions, my speed was not bad. So I think we can fight for a podium place on Sunday. Things can still improve in the rain.
“On the dry slopes, we still have some unresolved questions. In Saturday's practice sessions we improved the Ducati on a wet track and I expect it to be better in the dry, but we're not totally sure.
“We were almost sure we would choose wet tires, but we hadn't tested enough with slicks. Since the temperatures here aren't too high, most of them were probably running on soft tires. I think we don't have to worry that much.
“I also tried the slicks, but I just tried. What Jack did…. with him, you have already seen in Moto3 that he has a very good sense of the limit. In wet conditions it can play this card. I guess he uses the rear brake a lot. So he can more easily feel his way to the limit... His fast lap was extraordinary. »
Qualification results:
1 43 Jack MILLER AUS Alma Pramac Racing DUCATI Q2 1'47.153 8 8 318.5
2 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA Q2 1'47.330 6 7 0.177 0.177 309.9
3 5 Johann ZARCO FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA Q2 1'47.365 6 7 0.212 0.035 314.7
4 53 Tito RABAT SPA Reale Avintia Racing DUCATI Q2 1'47.681 6 7 0.528 0.316 312.3
5 42 Alex RINS SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR SUZUKI Q2 1'47.743 6 8 0.590 0.062 309.7
6 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA Q2 1'47.754 7 7 0.601 0.011 314.4
7 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini APRILIA Q2 1'47.845 7 8 0.692 0.091 316.7
8 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team DUCATI Q2 1'48.247 5 6 1.094 0.402 312.9
9 25 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA Q2 1'49.044 8 8 1.891 0.797 314.0
10 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR LCR Honda CASTROL HONDA Q2 1'49.304 7 7 2.151 0.260 316.7
11 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA Q2 1'49.326 8 8 2.173 0.022 310.1
12 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR SUZUKI Q2 1'49.975 6 7 2.822 0.649 309.1
13 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Angel Nieto Team DUCATI Q1 1'49.878 8 8 (*) 0.750 311.5
14 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Ducati Team DUCATI Q1 1'50.063 6 7 (*) 0.935 0.185 318.1
15 45 Scott REDDING GBR Aprilia Racing Team Gresini APRILIA Q1 1'50.175 6 7 (*) 1.047 0.112 312.5
16 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM Q1 1'50.324 7 7 (*) 1.196 0.149 308.9
17 10 Xavier SIMEON BEL Reale Avintia Racing DUCATI Q1 1'50.364 7 7 (*) 1.236 0.040 313.4
18 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Alma Pramac Racing DUCATI Q1 1'50.449 6 8 (*) 1.321 0.085 318.5
19 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Angel Nieto Team DUCATI Q1 1'50.606 8 8 (*) 1.478 0.157 313.9
20 12 Thomas LUTHI SWI EG 0,0 Marc VDS HONDA Q1 1'50.833 7 7 (*) 1.705 0.227 307.7
21 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM Q1 1'51.007 8 8 (*) 1.879 0.174 310.3
22 21 Franco MORBIDELLI ITA EG 0,0 Marc VDS HONDA Q1 1'51.012 8 8 (*) 1.884 0.005 305.7
23 55 Hafizh SYAHRIN MAL Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA Q1 1'51.142 8 8 (*) 2.014 0.130 307.0
24 30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN LCR Honda IDEMITSU HONDA Q1 1'51.387 8 8 (*) 2.259 0.245 312.4
Reference times:
Test record: 1'37.683 by Marc Marquez (Honda) in 2014
Lap record: 1'39.019 by Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) in 2015
Best top speed: 334,4 km/h for Hector Barbera (Avintia Ducati) in 2017
It looks like @AndreaDovizioso has found something when he needs it! ✊
The Championship leader currently sits on top of the pile in the mixed conditions #ArgentinaGP pic.twitter.com/dyJ19xm4PB
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) April 7, 2018
Provisional classification of the MotoGP World Championship:
1 Andrea DOVIZIOSO-Ducati 25 points
2 Marc MARQUEZ-Honda 20
3 Valentino ROSSI-Yamaha 16
4 Cal CRUTCHLOW-Honda 13
5 Danilo PETRUCCI-Ducati 11
6 Maverick VIÑALES-Yamaha 10
7 Dani PEDROSA-Honda 9
8 Johann ZARCO-Yamaha 8
9 Andrea IANNONE-Suzuki 7
10 Jack MILLER-Ducati 6
11 Tito RABAT-Ducati 5
12 Franco MORBIDELLI-Honda 4
13 Alvaro BAUTISTA-Ducati 3
14 Hafizh SYAHRIN-Yamaha 2
15 Karel ABRAHAM-Ducati 1
Photos © Ducati
