Ducati Team concluded the last MotoGP preseason test in Qatar

with Dovizioso tenth and Petrucci sixteenth

The final 2020 MotoGP preseason test concluded this evening at Losail, in Qatar. The same race venue, situated just a few kilometers away from the capital city of Doha, will host the opening Grand Prix of the new season in less than two weeks.

During the three days of testing available, the Ducati Team riders Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci were able to work consistently on the development of the Desmosedici GP20 bike as they kept testing the new tire solutions brought by Michelin this year.

The last day for the two riders was mostly dedicated to making the final arrangements ahead of the upcoming race weekend. In the late afternoon, they headed back out on track together to complete a long run that gave positive feedback.

Andrea Dovizioso ended the day with the tenth fastest time, in 1:54.312, closing in tenth position also in the combined classification of the three days.

Danilo Petrucci ended the last day of testing in the tenth position with the fastest lap time in 1:54.752 that he posted on his 36th lap out of 56 put in today. In the combined rankings, the rider from Terni also sits in the same position with his fastest lap time on Day 1 in 1:54.634, 0.776 seconds off today’s pacesetter.

After completing the preseason test, the Ducati Team riders will resume action at Losail Circuit from 6th-8th March for the first MotoGP Grand Prix of the season.

Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 1:54.312 (10°)
 “I am really satisfied with the work done today. We were able to try different setups that helped us understand that we still have some room left for improvement. The most positive aspect of today was the race simulation. With used tyres, I was able to cover the race distance without problems. On top of that, I did a few laps behind Danilo, which helped me to understand how to manage better the tyres. My race pace is good, and I am sure that if we can be fast as the front guys, then we will be able to fight for the top positions during the race weekend”.

Danilo Petrucci (#9 Ducati Team) – 1:54.752 (16º)
 “I am happy about this final day of testing here in Qatar. We tried to manage our last session well without focusing on lap times and giving priority to the long run. We were able to cover the same distance as the race and to remove the doubts that we still had. Now we need to work well during the race weekend to be able to secure a good starting position for the race. As we were fast during the race simulation, I am sure that we will be able to be competitive also in the race”.

Work continues for the Ducati Team at Losail

Dovizioso eighth and Petrucci twelfth in the second day of testing in Qatar

The Ducati Team was back in action again today at Losail in Qatar for the second of three days of the last Official MotoGP Test ahead of the 2020 season opener scheduled in less than two weeks at night at the same race venue.

Following the first positive feedback from yesterday, Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci got back at work this afternoon resuming the respective development programs of their Desmosedici GP20 bikes. Thanks to the favorable weather conditions, both the Ducati Team riders were able to take full advantage of the track time available as they found also good track conditions.

With a total of 60 laps on his tally, Dovizioso ended the day in eighth position thanks to the fastest lap in 1:54.662, half a second faster than his personal best of yesterday. The rider from Forlì has declared to be satisfied with the progress made today as he was faster and closer to the top of the timesheets in a test day featured with a quick pace and no less than 13 riders closed in less than a second.

It has been a busy day of work also for his teammate Petrucci. The rider from Terni, who was the fastest on track at the midpoint of the day, was able to find a good race pace using a rear medium compound tire. Petrucci ended the day in the twelfth position overall with the fastest lap in 1:54.852, 0.814 seconds behind today’s pacesetter.

The Ducati Team riders will still have tomorrow to complete the development of their Desmosedici bikes in the final day of pre-season testing in Qatar.

 Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 1:54.662 (8°)
“I am happier compared to yesterday because we were able to move forward with a huge part of our testing program, and now we have a clearer idea about the situation. We are fast, and our pace is good, but so are our opponents. For sure there are details that we will be able to understand only during a race weekend, while in a test, as we are riding alone, we can only get an idea of on which area we need to focus in order to improve. Today we did a few consecutive laps to understand the effects on the tyre life. In general, I am satisfied, and now we will continue with our program also tomorrow”.

Danilo Petrucci (#9 Ducati Team) – 1:54.852 (12º)
“Today, we were able to take better advantage of the track time available, and I am delighted with the work we have done. We did a few tests with a rear medium tyre compound, and we were able to keep a good pace for several laps. Compared to fastest riders we are still missing a few tenths of a second, but today we didn’t focus on the lap times, and I am confident that we have the potential to battle at the front with them. Unfortunately, we had some small issues that didn’t allow us to continue until the end of the session. But despite that, I am happy, and I hope we will able to make a further step forward, as the program sees a race simulation also scheduled for tomorrow”.

THE DUCATI TEAM ENDED THE SECOND DAY OF TESTING IN MALAYSIA

The Ducati Team riders took to the track once again today for the penultimate of three days of Official MotoGP Test at Sepang Circuit, in Malaysia. 

After a first day deeply affected by the changeable weather conditions, Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci were finally able to take full advantage of the 8 hours of free practices available in which they found a dry surface of the track and acceptable but still scorching temperatures. 

With just one month left before the opening Grand Prix of the 2020 season in Qatar, both the riders of the Bologna-based squad resumed their programs from where they left off yesterday, working on different aspects of their Desmosedici GP20 while also improving yesterday’s lap times. 

Danilo Petrucci made a big step forward, taking 0.682 seconds off his personal best from yesterday. The rider from Terni ended the second day of testing in the thirteenth position overall with the fastest lap in 1’59.257, close to the top of the timesheets.

In the afternoon, Andrea Dovizioso slid out at Turn 6, but the small accident didn’t really compromise his working program. The rider from Forlì was fifteenth overall with a personal best lap in 1:59.342 at the end of Saturday.

Now that the most challenging part of the testing program is completed, the Ducati Team will head back on track tomorrow for the final day of the Sepang Test.

Danilo Petrucci (#9, Ducati Team) – 13° (1:59.257) “I am not completely satisfied with my ranking today. But still, I am happy because compared to yesterday we were able to make a big step forward and again we are really close to the top. Today we tried different new components, amongst which we also tried a new fairing: we did many laps, and my feeling with the used tires is good. Tomorrow we will focus more on improving the bike setup, and we will also work with the new tires to understand what we can do to take full advantage of them”. 

Andrea Dovizioso (#04, Ducati Team) – 15° (1:59.342) “It has been another busy day. We were able to test several new components, like a new fairing, while in the afternoon I had a small crash and we couldn’t end our setup work on the Desmosedici. Now I have some pain in my hand and neck, but fortunately, we could get on with an important part of our program. I hope to feel better tomorrow and be able to take great advantage from the final day of testing”. 

Successful testing at Sepang concludes with Quartararo on top

A successful test at Sepang International Circuit concludes for PETRONAS Yamaha SRT with Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli first and 13th.

The opening MotoGP test of 2020 has come to a successful conclusion for PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team riders Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli. Across the three days, the team has been able to build up vital knowledge as they prepare for the season starts next month in Qatar.

Once again Quartararo was one of the first riders out on track to run a series of time-attack laps, which saw him improve upon his best time from yesterday, despite experiencing some difficulties, before testing Michelin’s new rear tire compounds. After an early lunch break, Fabio was able to focus his attention on a long run at a time of day representative of a race start. The Frenchman rounded out the session with a series of practice starts and finished the final day of testing at the top of the timesheets with a best lap of 1min 58.349secs, out of the 57 completed.

Morbidelli had initially planned to join his team-mate in the series of time attack runs but needed to test some different bike setups instead to combat some front-end chatter. After working through this Franco was able to resume his testing program in the afternoon, where he proceeded to enjoy more laps on his Yamaha YZR-M1 and finished the day with a total of 58 laps on the board. His best time was a 1min 58.838secs, which is an exceedingly close session placed him 13th – just 0.489secs shy of Fabio.

With testing at Sepang now at an end, PETRONAS Yamaha SRT will have to some time to assess their learnings before turning their attention to the next MotoGP Official Test in Qatar (22-24 February), which will be the last test before action gets underway at the first round of the year (6-8 March), also held in Qatar.

Razlan Razali Team Principal

I’m glad we got the launch and the announcements out

of the way before the test began as it meant that our riders could fully focus on the three-day test without any distractions. In general, I think the test went very well. Although we can’t really look too much at the timings yet, I think psychologically it’s good for the riders to be quick, and for the competitors to see as well. So far everything seems positive: Fabio is doing great on the new bike that he’s had for only two days and Franco is making progress with his bike as well. At the same time, we’ve also managed to engage the riders with the fans here the last three days, and with our guests. I think generally it was a very positive test.

Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager

The first test for the season 2020 is done. It was a very positive test with no crazy things happening! We had good weather across the test. For Fabio to have three days on top of the timesheets is very promising. I’m also very happy to see Franco riding like he is at the moment. I think he understands the bike better than he did last year and he also made some good steps forward. We did what we had to do and tested what we had to be doing, there were no big crashes and now we’re ready for the Qatar test.

Fabio Quartararo 1st (1:58.349)

Today was a difficult day for us, it was not easy to get into the pace and make a good lap this morning, but overall I’m really happy. We did a long run of 12 laps in the hottest conditions when there was nobody on track. It was not bad: our pace was high 1min 59sec and low 2mins, it was 55 degrees on track and nobody else was riding so it was probably the worst track conditions we had today. We are working in a really good way to improve the speed and hopefully, in Qatar we will take another step forward. My goal now has changed a little bit; we want to have a better long-run pace because we now know over one lap we are fast. Overall, I’m really happy with the first test of the year with the 2020 bike.

Franco Morbidelli 13th (1:58.838)

I feel quite happy about this test as we’ve been working a lot and we understand many things on the new bike. I also already feel that I have good confidence in the new bike. We didn’t use the super-soft tire today to make the time attack, we used it yesterday just for normal running. So I think that is why we are not higher up the timings today. But even with the normal tire on the time attack our pace is not so far off the top. I understand a lot from these three days and we know what we need to work on in Qatar. It has been overall a good test and I look forward to Qatar now and we try to do a good job there also.

MotoGP Test Results Sepang - Day 3

View Full Results here