The Ducati rider will start the Misano Grand Prix from the end of the third row but seems more optimistic than yesterday about his chances of achieving a good result in the race.
Faced with the excellent form of the Yamahas on the Misano track this weekend, Andrea Dovizioso knows: It will be difficult for him to regain points from Fabio Quartararo in the championship. At best he will be able to limit the damage because the times speak for themselves and the Ducati rider appears to be in more difficulty than his opponents, but also than his teammates from the Borgo Panigale brand since Jack Miller and Francesco Bagnaia are fast, without forgetting Johann Zarco who is not far away.
After a complicated first day which saw him finish 11th in the combined times of the two sessions, the Italian managed to place tenth during FP3, narrowly moving into Q2. With a ninth position in FP4 then in qualifying, he apparently seemed to be living a copy and paste of his day on Friday, yet he was much more satisfied in his statements.
“I'm happy because we were finally able to improve my feeling with the bike, and we got closer to the riders in front today”, he explained. “Unfortunately, we couldn't do better than ninth place in qualifying, but our goal was to finish at least on the second row because here, in Misano, the starting [straight] is short and quite narrow. »
“Now we will try to take another step forward during the warmup tomorrow morning. The goal for the race will be to fight for the top 5.” A possible result if we look at his performances in previous years on the San Marino circuit. Over the past four years, Dovizioso has always finished among the top six, with a victory in 2018 and a podium in 2017. It remains to be seen whether, given his difficulties, he will also achieve this tomorrow.
Q2 standings Lenovo San Marino and Rimini Riviera MotoGP Grand Prix in Misano:
Q1 standings Lenovo San Marino and Rimini Riviera MotoGP Grand Prix in Misano:
Credit rankings: MotoGP.com
