Andrea Dovizioso gave Ducati the perfect start to their home Grand Prix by topping both Friday practice sessions at Mugello. The Italian was a tenth of a second clear of reigning champion Marc Marquez as Ducati go in search of a first premier class victory since 2010.
Dovizioso hit the front in the closing minutes of Friday’s second session to edge out Marquez and although single lap pace doesn’t appear to be an issue, Andrea admits he still needs to tweak his GP15 before he is confident of figuring in the closing stages of Sunday’s race.
“I am very happy with how this weekend has started for us and above all with the time I set at the end of the session. We are quick and this is fundamental in the search for the best set-up. We are still carrying out some tests in order to improve certain aspects of the Desmosedici GP15 that will allow us to be competitive right until the end of the race. Now we must concentrate on the analysis of the data so that we can have a clear starting-point to work on for tomorrow.”
Marquez looked much more comfortable on his Honda RC213V to finish second while Jorge Lorenzo was at his ominous best during his race preparation this afternoon. The Movistar Yamaha rider pipped Andrea Iannone to third while Bradley Smith took the honour of top Briton and leading satellite rider in fifth, a tenth ahead of compatriot Cal Crutchlow.
Aleix Espargaro put the pain of his injured finger behind him to take seventh while Scott Redding gave himself a confidence boost with eighth, just ahead of championship leader Valentino Rossi and former Moto2 rival Pol Espargaro.
2015 GRAN PREMIO D’ITALIA TIM – FRIDAY PRACTICE CLASSIFICATION
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