Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) was the trailblazer in FP1 at Motegi, as the 2014 polesitter at the venue took the top spot in the morning and then ended the day second on combined times, with good pace on used rubber. With a few things to improve ahead of feeling race ready, ‘DesmoDovi’ is however confident the speed is there – and knows what to work on as lights out edges closer.
Andrea Dovizioso (P2): “I’m really happy about the start today because the speed is there and it’s important to start in this way on the first day. This afternoon with the used tyre we did a good lap time and that was important but still we have a lot of work to do. It’s not easy to manage the characteristics of the tyre, especially on this track because there is hard braking. So we have to improve corner entry because we can’t use too much pressure on the front brake, but I’m happy. Most riders used the hard tyre so we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see but we’re there, and I’m happy."