Andrea Dovizioso says that corner speed is an area that Ducati need to improve on if they are to challenge at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Dovizioso secured back-to-back podiums at Le Mans and Mugello, however he lost points to Marc Marquez in both races. At Mugello, Dovizioso lost out to team-mate Danilo Petrucci and failed to challenge Marquez for second on the final lap.
The Italian is now 12 points behind Marquez in the standings, and he knows that this is an important part of the season. Ahead of the Catalan Grand Prix, Dovizioso said:
“Ducati won the last two GPs at the Montmeló track, and I’m confident we’ll be competitive in the race this weekend as well, even though track temperatures will be a decisive factor. Weather forecast says it will be hot, so both the performance and the correct management of the tyres will make the difference.
“We’re going through a crucial phase of the season and we need to keep scoring as many points as possible. We’re working well, we’ve been on the podium twice in a row but we need to keep improving our corner speed to be competitive in all kinds of circuits.”
As Dovizioso mentioned, Ducati have a fantastic record in Barcelona. Jorge Lorenzo dominated last season’s race, whilst Dovizioso was victorious in 2017. Ducati also won their first-ever MotoGP race at the Catalan Grand Prix, with Loris Capirossi in 2003.
Schedule for Dovizioso
The weekend’s action in Barcelona begins on Friday (14 June 2019) with Free Practice 1 at 08:55. This will be followed by Free Practice 2 at 13:10.
Saturday’s (15 June 2018) action begins at 08:55 with Free Practice 3, with Free Practice 4 at 12:30. This is immediately followed by Qualifying 1 at 13:10 and Qualifying 2 at 13:35.
Sunday’s warm-up (16 June 2019) will begin at 08:40. The race begins at 13:00.
