Jorge Lorenzo was delighted after what he described as “the most important day of the year” for himself and Ducati at Brno. The Spaniard has endured a tough first season with the Bologna squad but experimented with a number of different set-ups as he looks to make the GP17 suit his riding style in the second half of the season.
Lorenzo ended the day fourth fastest and says the test has provided him with a welcome confidence boost ahead of what looks likely to be one of Ducati’s strongest rounds of the season in Austria.
“Today was perhaps the most important day of the year for me. I had an excellent feeling with the bike and am very satisfied. Already in the race weekend we were very competitive but today we improved even more: it’s true that the track was probably in a better condition than the previous days, but we found some set-up solutions that are better for my riding style and they allowed me to push even harder and go even quicker. My feeling with the new fairing continues to be very good, because it gives me more confidence in the front.”
Team-mate Andrea Dovizioso ran Ducati’s striking new aero-fairing for the first time on Monday having seen Lorenzo debut the upgrade on Friday and believes it could prove especially useful at the Red Bull Ring this weekend.
“Today was a perfect day to do all the tests that we had planned. We had all the time that was necessary to evaluate the bike with the new fairing, and we managed to test it to the full and obtain some clear feedback. The guys in Ducati Corse have done a really great job, because it was not easy to recreate the effects of the winglets with the new regulations, but as always there are pros and cons in riding and feel. In my opinion it will be useful at certain tracks and I think that it could give us a good advantage in Austria.”
