Dovizioso: Better than expected, keen to try new Ducati fairing

Andrea Dovizioso is thrilled with his Friday practice pace at Brno while also being a keen onlooker on Ducati’s new fairing tested by Danilo Petrucci.

The Ducati rider ended FP2 fifth fastest with a best lap of 1m 56.144s, less than three-tenths off pace-setter Dani Pedrosa, despite not opting for a late time attack using fresh soft tyres.

Having been content with his long run pace while still remaining inside the top 10, Dovizioso says he’ll now focus on managing tyre wear in the hot track conditions at Brno.

“It was really good, even better than what we expected,” Dovizioso said. “Our speed is really good, and that is the best you can have on the first day, because it gives you the chance to make more laps on the tyres, and you are able to work a lot for the race.

“We didn’t put the soft tyre at the end, like Marc, and we are in the top ten, which is very important and positive. We showed really good speed, with used tyres, with a new tyre, so really happy.

“That doesn’t mean this will be enough, because the consumption of the tyre is the biggest point, so we are working a lot on that. It’s not easy, but I’m really happy about the first day.”

Pramac Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci grabbed attention at Brno by trialling a new Ducati GP18 fairing upgrade and gave a positive review of the new wings.

“The biggest point is that the new fairing has no negative points,” Petrucci said. “So I mean there is not the difference between day and night. We don’t lose 10km/h, I don’t know if we lose any, maybe 1-2-3km/h, but I’m not sure.

“The positive point is that the handling is better, it’s not so heavy to change direction.

“And especially we did a comparison, one bike with the old fairing, one bike with the new fairing, with identical bikes. And this is good, because it means the work done is better.”

Dovizioso says he’s eager to try out the new fairing during the Czech Republic round in order to gain a greater understanding of its gains.

“Maybe yes. Maybe yes,” he said when asked whether he will try the new fairing. “It looks good. Danilo looks quite happy, so if we have a chance, we will try it, but still it’s not fixed.”