Andrea Dovizioso declared himself happy with his first day as part of the factory Ducati team despite heavy rain at Valencia. The Italian has joined his third different team, and manufacturer, in as many seasons but is pleased with the way he’s settled in at Ducati as well as his early performance in the wet conditions.
“I’m happy after my first day, mainly because I have a good feeling with my crew and I had a good lap time in the wet, even compared to the wet times over the weekend. The conditions weren’t ideal for a debut on a new motorcycle, but anyway, it was important for me to do some kilometres on the bike. The Ducati is known for working well in the wet, and I can confirm that, but obviously, we have to try it in the dry. Unfortunately, it looks like the weather tomorrow will be like today.”
For the record, Dovizioso was third fastest, two places ahead of teammate Nicky Hayden who set his best time in much less favourable conditions and the American is hoping for better weather on Wednesday.
“It was a wet test day, but we did some exits. I was mainly testing some shock settings and some things that we didn’t get a chance to try during the weekend because of the changing conditions. I also tried a different frame that Valentino had tried, and that I wanted to use in the wet. Obviously, dry weather would have been better, but it’s never a bad thing to do some laps. It would be nice to get some sun tomorrow, but I’m not sure that’s going to happen. If not, we’ll probably ride a bit in the wet again.”
