It was only seven hundredths away from Italian journalists becoming hysterical, Dovi returning triumphant to Rome with the laurel wreath, and a statue of Gigi Dall'Igna being erected in front of the Ducati factory in Bologna. Seven hundredths is not much, even if Vinales declared on Sunday evening that he still had two tenths of margin in the handle.
Andrea finished the third and final day of testing at the Losail International Circuit in second position, with his best time of 1'44.401 set on the twenty-seventh of the 43 laps he completed this Sunday.
To Andrea Dovizioso, “These three days of testing at Losail were very interesting because each day we found different track conditions and grip which were very useful in preparing for the race at the end of the month.
“I'm not fully satisfied with my pace, especially when I see what Maverick was able to do. He's a lot faster than everyone else and I think he could have been even faster. As always, testing has to be interpreted, many drivers didn't do a race simulation, some had more problems than others, but the truth will come out on race day and some drivers are definitely going to be there. We need to improve, there is still work to do.
“It won’t be easy because there are a lot of competitive drivers. I think things will change during the race weekend. The tests give us some indications, but do not tell us everything. During a GP, drivers react in different ways. We'll see who did the best. I'm happy, but not completely. We worked with both the soft and medium rear tires, and there is a real difference between the two, but I don't know yet if we will be able to finish the race with the softer one.
“I am satisfied with our speed, but disappointed because certain characteristics of our bike have remained the same and I know that these will condition the race. These are important things to improve, but so far we have not managed to do so. I think I can finish on the podium yes, but for the victory, no, because Maverick made the difference here, but we will be there to fight for the victory, yes. »
Combined Qatar Test Rankings:
1. Maverick Vinales, Yamaha, 1:54,330
2. Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati, 1:54,401
3. Dani Pedrosa, Honda, 1:54,469
4. Jorge Lorenzo, Ducati, 1:54,519
5. Alvaro Bautista, Ducati, 1:54,714
6. Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, 1:54,732
7. Scott Redding, Ducati, 1:54,750
8. Jonas Folger, Yamaha, 1:54,807
9. Cal Crutchlow, Honda, 1:54,821
10. Johann Zarco, Yamaha, 1:54,900
11. Marc Márquez, Honda, 1:54, 990
12. Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, 1:55,121
13. Andrea Iannone, Suzuki, 1:55,284
14. Karel Abraham, Ducati, 1:55,333
15. Alex Rins, Suzuki, 1:55,362
16. Jack Miller, Honda, 1:55,455
17. Loris Baz, Ducati, 1:55,539
18. Danilo Petrucci, Ducati, 1:55,556
19. Sam Lowes, Aprilia, 1:56,167
20. Tito Rabat, Honda, 1:56,294
21. Bradley Smith, KTM, 1:56,351
22. Pol Espargaro, KTM, 1:56,471
23. Mika Kallio, KTM, 1:57,632
