Andrea Dovizioso once again looks competitive at the Sepang International Circuit ahead of the penultimate round of the 2019 MotoGP World Championship.
As the battle for the team championship heats up, Dovizioso looks to have the ball in his court after a strong showing throughout both of Friday’s practice sessions.
The Italian ended the opening day in third overall and looks to have a similar pace to his rivals in the leading group.
Speaking after his opening day of on-track action, Dovizioso said: “Sepang is a fascinating circuit, but it’s also complicated because of the heat and the tyre drop that you always get on this track. In the afternoon we tried a different set-up that gave interesting results: it’s not easy to manage but it allowed me to be more consistent and quicker.”
Despite having a similar race pace, Dovizioso feels like his competitors can make a bigger step forward with their bikes ahead of the 20-lap race “I’m happy with today’s improvements. It’s still not enough to think about fighting for the win on Sunday, because there are some riders who are better placed than us, but I’m pleased with the work we did today and my feeling.”
Ducati are just one point ahead of the Repsol Honda Team in the team championship, with it all to play for in the remaining two races.
Teammate Danilo Petrucci ended day one in 13th as the Italian is still recovering from the first lap crash in Australia.
