New factory Ducati signing
Andrea Dovizioso insisted he was not overly concerned by the 2.3s gap to the top during day one of testing at Sepang in Malaysia.
The Italian, taking over from compatriot Valentino Rossi, stressed that it was basically his debut on the Desmosedici - after bad weather at Valencia and missing a private
Jerez test - and therefore the deficit to
Dani Pedrosa (Honda) and
Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) wasn't a surprise.
“This is like the first day for me at Ducati. Just the start. If we compare with the other riders there is a gap, but the difference in kilometres on the bike is also big,” said Dovizioso.
“Dani and Lorenzo have the same bike as last year. They arrive here in the same situation and they are still very fast.”
Dovizioso confirmed that riding the Desmosedici is 'completely different' to the M1, but added that he faced a similar adjustment when he switched from Honda to Yamaha.
“There is a big difference between riding the Ducati and Yamaha here, just like when I swapped from Honda to Yamaha. Every bike is completely different,” he said.
“We don't have a lot of new parts here - [first] you have to understand if you can improve the situation with the set-up. If you can't then you must look to change something on the bike.”
One problem that already looks to have been cured is the neck strain that forced Dovizioso to sit-out Ducati's November test.
“On the bike [the neck] is perfect, so I'm happy about that. I had some injections and, with my collarbone, I took out the plate and everything is fine. I tested it with motocross at home before I came here!”