It’s a Andrea Dovizioso far from the enthusiasm that left the revamped Barcelona layout discovered during testing earlier this week. The Ducati official is now preparing for his national meeting in Mugello which will start on June 2. A week later, he will return to Catalonia and the worries he left there. With a touch of concern, because in addition to the recurring problems with the front of the Desmosedici there was added more than rapid wear of the rear tire on the GP17.
At Ducati, the year 2017 is for the moment much less exciting than the current vintage. The arrival of Lorenzo has not disrupted anything yet. Worse, the GP17 without fins has difficulty taking off and reaching the heights of its predecessor.
Dovizioso remains the linchpin of the reds and their cap. He knows the machine, its past generations, how the team works and he has the legitimacy to say what he really thinks about it. After having made its 123 laps on the new route in Catalonia and finished his work with a modest 1'45.067 as his best performance, he did not hide that this milestone in Barcelona will not be easy to negotiate.
The Italian, who gave 1.069 seconds to his teammate Por Fuera, author of a very good 1:43.998 min, commented: “ this track has always been complicated for Ducati. It was therefore essential to confront it. My best time isn't great, but my overall pace was interesting ". That being said, he comes to the point: “ we still have our problem at the apex, but there is also the fact that after three laps the rear tire already loses a lot of its effectiveness ».
And three laps is still not a lot... This is one more problem added to that of the front tire. On the new Michelin product, DesmoDovi remains doubtful: “ This new carcass does not change our problem in the turns. Michelin is very busy at the moment, with a lot of tires ».
Andrea Dovizioso finished fourth in the last French Grand Prix and he was on the podium once this season, in Qatar. He is sixth in the championship with 54 points and first among the Ducatists.
