MotoGP Great Britain Silverstone J2 Andrea Dovizioso: “Tomorrow's race could be the most open of the year”

On Friday, Andrea Dovizioso predicted that five drivers would compete for victory this Sunday: Marc Marquez, Fabio Quartararo, Maverick Viñales, Valentino Rossi and himself. The qualifying practices confirmed the accuracy of this prediction, these five men appearing among the seven fastest in qualifying, along with Jack Miller and Álex Rins.

Dovi was only seventh, but it must be remembered that he had the sixth fastest time in Q2 in 2017, the year he won the British Grand Prix, of which he is the last winner due to the cancellation of last year.

That year, Andrea qualified 0.631 from pole position in Marc Márquez, which did not prevent him from winning. This weekend, he finished 0.594 behind the same Marc Márquez, which is a positive development.

However, his attempts were not easy, and even seemed laborious at times. During the first free practice session, he ranked sixth, but more than a second (1.053) behind the leader fabio quartararo, which was a lot. His Ducati was the only one among the first 8, indicating an imperfect adaptation of the bike to the new surface of the circuit. The second session was barely better, with the sixth time 0.885 behind El Diablo.

Dovi achieved his best time during FP3 in 1'59.740, 1.193 behind Quartararo, which was a big gap. With the fourteenth time, he had to go through Q1. What should have been just a formality turned into a hassle when at the end of FP4 preceding Q1, his bike broke down in Turn 7 at the very end of the circuit, at the farthest point stands!

It was therefore necessary to bring Dovi back to his stand, but he had to leave with his second motorbike, while the first one was brought back from the bottom of the pampas at the very end of the circuit.

Fortunately, with their great experience, the Ducati Corse team and Desmo Dovi did not panic in any way. Andrea had a good time, initially second behind Alex Rins and in front Pol Espargaró and his KTM.

To protect himself from a good time from Espargaró, Dovizioso turned the handle in the right direction in the very last minutes and set the best time in 1'58.944. He thus qualified for Q2 alongside Álex Rins.

Q2 was a little less favorable to Dovi, credited with the seventh time in 1'58.762. He will therefore start from the third row on the grid, with Fabio Quartararo (fourth) just in front of him. Dovizioso has no pole positions to his credit so far this year, but he has started from the front row three times. He won the Qatar and Austrian Grands Prix and is in second position in the provisional World Championship standings, 58 points behind Marc Márquez.

According to Andrea Dovizioso, “ Tomorrow we will race for the podium. For the moment, given our speed, this is the objective. But we race with motorcycles, so anything can happen.”

You said you changed your trajectories here at Silverstone, but in 2017 you won.

“This year the track has more grip, we are faster. In the past there were bumps, little grip and we often had to deal with the typical "English weather". This weekend, I approached the track differently. So it was important to immediately understand where to put the wheels to be faster.”

“We, the drivers, will always see the data of colleagues, especially those of the same brand. It is impossible to be the strongest in every corner of the world. And if the comparison is done well, it can be a determining factor: if the bike is different, the intermediate times don't mean much, whereas for the same bike, it is more judicious to make a comparison.

Everyone in the race should have the same hard tires at the rear: an advantage for Márquez?

“No, Marc doesn't know the difference when everyone has the same tires. It can be faster when there is little grip on the track or when using harder tires, which therefore have lower grip. In these situations he makes the difference, thanks to his riding style and, I believe, the characteristics of the Honda.”

Could tomorrow's race be the most open of the year?

“Yes, there are at least six riders who can place in the top three: the Yamaha of Viñales, Quartararo and Rossi, the Suzuki of Rins, me and Marc. But others can also get involved.”

Jack Miller for example?

"I don't know, Jack doesn't seem to have a good rhythm, but that also depends on what he tried." He will be able to take advantage of his start on the front line, by remaining in contact with the first ones. Even Cal Crutchlow and Franco Morbidelli are worth considering. They also had good pace, although they didn't do well in qualifying ».

Will it be a Grand Prix with the drivers grouped together?

“Marc is the one who has the most decision-making power. It will depend on him whether he runs a strategic race or leaves. Then, of course, we have to see the others, those who have good speed from the first lap. Valentino, for example, is better than in other races, so he will do everything to try to win.”

Is the problem you had with the engine the same as that suffered by Miller's Ducati?

“They’re checking, I have no idea.”

Qualification results:

1	93	Marc MÁRQUEZ	Honda	1'58.168
2	46	Valentino ROSSI	Yamaha	1'58.596	0.428	0.428
3	43	Jack Miller	Ducati	1'58.602	0.434	0.006
4	20	Fabio QUARTARARO	Yamaha	1'58.612	0.444	0.010
5	42	Alex RINS	Suzuki	1'58.670	0.502	0.058
6	12	Maverick VIÑALES	Yamaha	1'58.762	0.594	0.092
7	4	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	1'58.762	0.594
8	21	Frank MORBIDELLI	Yamaha	1'59.096	0.928	0.334
9	35	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	1'59.243	1.075	0.147
10	30	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	Honda	1'59.427	1.259	0.184
11	9	Danilo PETRUCCI	Ducati	1'59.487	1.319	0.060
12	41	Aleix ESPARGARÓ	Aprilia	1'59.620	1.452	0.133
		Q1 Results:
Q2	4	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	1'58.944
Q2	42	Alex RINS	Suzuki	1'59.190	0.246	0.246
13	44	Pol ESPARGARÓ	KTM	1'59.549	0.605	0.359
14	5	johann zarco	KTM	1'59.648	0.704	0.099
15	88	Miguel OLIVEIRA	KTM	1'59.758	0.814	0.110
16	53	Tito RABAT	Ducati	1'59.916	0.972	0.158
17	29	Andrea Iannone	Aprilia	2'00.240	1.296	0.324
18	63	Francesco Bagnaia	Ducati	2'00.362	1.418	0.122
19	50	Sylvain GUINTOLI	Suzuki	2'00.660	1.716	0.298
20	55	Hafiz Syahrin	KTM	2'00.700	1.756	0.040
21	99	Jorge Lorenzo	Honda	2'01.562	2.618	0.862
22	17	Karel ABRAHAM	Ducati	2'04.845	5.901	3.283

Reference times:

Test record: 1'58.168 by Marc Márquez (Honda) on 24/8/2019

Lap record: 2'01.560 by Marc Márquez (Honda) in 2017

Provisional ranking of the World Championship:

1 Marc MÁRQUEZ–Honda 230

2 Andrea DOVIZIOSO–Ducati 172

3 Danilo PETRUCCI–Ducati 136

4 Alex RINS–Suzuki 124

5 Valentino ROSSI–Yamaha 103

6 Maverick VIÑALES–Yamaha 102

7 Fabio QUARTARARO–Yamaha 92

8 Jack MILLER–Ducati 86

9 Cal CRUTCHLOW–Honda 78

10 Takaaki NAKAGAMI–Honda 62

11 Pol ESPARGARÓ–KTM 61

12 Franco MORBIDELLI–Yamaha 58

13 Joan MIR–Suzuki 39

14 Aleix ESPARGARÓ–Aprilia 33

15 Miguel OLIVEIRA–KTM 26

16 Francesco BAGNAIA–Ducati 24

17 Johann ZARCO–KTM 22

18 Andrea IANNONE–Aprilia 21

19 Jorge LORENZO–Honda 19

20 Stefan BRADL–Honda 16

21 Tito RABAT–Ducati 14

22 Michele PIRRO–Ducati 9

23 Karel ABRAHAM–Ducati 4

24 Sylvain GUINTOLI–Suzuki 3

25 Hafizh SYAHRIN–KTM 3

Photos © Ducati