Dovizioso optimistic for Aragon turnaround

Andrea Dovizioso feels Ducati can respond from its Misano disappointment at Aragon this weekend despite still battling tyre issues, while team-mate Danilo Petrucci fears he faces familiar problems this weekend.

With Dovizioso sneaking into the provisional Q2 spots thanks to a final-lap effort at the end of FP2, the Italian rider says he is more confident of Ducati’s chances at Aragon compared to last weekend on home turf when he was left bemused by the lack of grip the team could find.

Dovizioso optimistic for Aragon turnaround

Andrea Dovizioso feels Ducati can respond from its Misano disappointment at Aragon this weekend despite still battling tyre issues, while team-mate Danilo Petrucci fears he faces familiar problems this weekend.

With Dovizioso sneaking into the provisional Q2 spots thanks to a final-lap effort at the end of FP2, the Italian rider says he is more confident of Ducati’s chances at Aragon compared to last weekend on home turf when he was left bemused by the lack of grip the team could find.

While the threat of rain forced the Italian to shake-up his Friday practice plans, Dovizioso expects conditions and tyre life management to impact all MotoGP riders which could provide him with opportunities to attack come race day.

“Aragon is always a strange track, both for riding and for the tyres, and as there is a chance of rain tomorrow, we changed our work plans as a consequence,” Dovizioso said. “We were not able to do many laps with the various types of tyres available, but we tried them all so as to have as clear an idea as possible for the race.

“It’s not easy, because here everyone is struggling when the tyres drop, but the situation is surely better than Misano. We still have to improve in certain areas but I’m optimistic.”

For Petrucci the familiar frustrations of finding single lap speed with the soft tyres resurfaced as he could only climb to 12th place on the combined practice times on Friday.

Having held higher expectations the Mugello race-winner accepts he failed to reach his own targets and is likely to face a Q1 battle if rain arrives for FP3 and denies him a final chance to break into the top 10 and with it an automatic Q2 spot.

“To be honest I expected to set a better time, but when I put on the soft new tyres, I couldn’t lap fast enough,” Petrucci said. “This morning with the hard tyres in FP1 I felt pretty good.

“Unfortunately, it seems that tomorrow there might be bad weather, so I don’t know if it will be possible to get into the top 10 to avoid Q1.

“I’m clearly not very satisfied with today, but as always we’ll strive to improve for the race.”

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