Dovizioso: ominously confident?

Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati Team) was third fastest on the opening day of the Qatar Test but it’s not all about the timesheets and laptimes, especially when conditions aren’t quite ideal. Testing is for doing just that and the Italian seemed very confident after Day 1 in the desert, saying they’re well on course.

“Good, really good,” begins the Italian when asked about the first day. “There wasn’t the rubber down but it was clean, so the laptime was quite good, and we were able to test what we wanted today. Nothing special, small things, but we did our program. The speed is there, so it’s not a really important day – also because when we look at the laptimes, it’s not so interesting. But I feel good.”

So will there be anything more extreme seen from Ducati on track on Sunday? It seems not: “Nothing crazy,” smiles the Italian. “I think we tested a lot in Malaysia and we’re always trying to find something but we won’t have anything huge, or anything special. It’s small things but sometimes you can improve a little it and that can be enough.”

A rider for whom that philosophy – little by little with the devil in the details – has been incredibly successful, the relaxed and confident mood continued when he was asked about the upcoming season opener at the same Losail International Circuit. “It’s too early to tell,” begins last year's winner, as you could expect, before explaining it’s hard to analyse the competition during testing because everyone is fast and the way they work on a race weekend is very different. “I don’t know, but I’m relaxed about it. It’s not too important to think about that,” he adds with a shrug. “We’re focused on our job and being ready for the weekend.”

Sounds like that focus is paying off. See what Ducati and Dovizioso have up their sleeve on Day 2 when testing resumes from 16:00 local time (GMT +3)!