Petrucci gives verdict on new Ducati fairing

Ducati’s in-season GP18 fairing upgrade made its MotoGP debut in the hands of Pramac’s Danilo Petrucci during Friday practice at Brno.

The new design, homologated for MotoGP after successful testing and development in the hands of test rider Michele Pirro, retains the previous box style on the side part of the fairing.

However, it is now paired with a slim upper wing section that is separate from the smaller (KTM-style) side duct.

New fairings for @Petrux9#forzaDucati #CzechGP #DP9 #pramacracing #MotoGP pic.twitter.com/QcMbYt4tT0

— Alma Pramac Racing MotoGP (@pramacracing) August 3, 2018

“I’m very happy to be the first to try that one after Michele Pirro,” Petrucci said of the fairing. “The biggest point is that the new fairing has no negative points. 

“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.”

Petrucci set the second fastest lap of the day while using the new fairing in FP2.

“Yes. As I said, there is not a big difference that you say, ‘it’s not my bike’. But there are many things that are slightly different, and the good thing is that we don’t have to change the setup for that fairing, and that’s good.”

Beyond the new fairing, which factory riders Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo are expected to try tomorrow, Petrucci worked on tyre consumption in the baking heat.

“In Sachsenring, we managed the tyre consumption very, very well. This made the difference. And here, too, we have to prepare one bike for the first lap, for the qualifying, and one bike to make all the race. 

“The bike is very different compared to the race pace tyre or qualifying tyre, so you have to deal with the electronics, with the setup, you have to understand a lot of things. 

“For sure the bike changes a lot lap by lap. And you have to care very very much about the pace of the race with a used tyre.”

With that in mind, are Dovizioso (fifth) and Marc Marquez (tenth) the riders to watch after avoiding a fast lap on soft tyres?

“For sure they are ‘hidden’, but I think that’s their working method, a little bit different. Because I think they are a little bit faster than everyone, they can take this risk to work more on the bike when the tyre is used, because tomorrow morning, they know that with one lap they are in front.”