After a P3 finish on a difficult circuit for Ducati in Argentina, Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati) now faces another historically tricky track for the Bologna factory in the form of the Circuit of the Americas this weekend.
A win and a third place in the opening two rounds of the season leaves Dovizioso four points adrift of Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) in the Championship and with the reigning World Champion having tasted victory at COTA for the last six years, the going is will be incredibly tough for Dovi to not see that deficit increase.
Dovi’s best COTA result came in the form of a second place in 2015. This was the Italian’s last podium at the venue but at this weekend’s Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas, a repeat of that result would go down a treat in the Mission Winnow Ducati box.
“The way in which we worked in Argentina will be a good starting point for our next race at Austin,” said the 33-year-old, looking ahead to the Americas GP. “Even though the track is not the most suitable for us, I'm confident that, if we manage to improve in each session as we did at Termas de Río Hondo, we'll be competitive come race time, which is the most important thing.
“Our goal at Austin is to step once again on the podium, which in some ways would count as much as a win, but we'll need to assess the state of the track before we make any predictions. Last year the tarmac was really bumpy, and I hope the situation has improved since then. We know each race is a different story, so we just need to stay positive and focused, continuing to work as we did so far.”
Watch Dovizioso and the rest of the premier class riders on track for the first time this weekend when they head out for FP1 at 09:55 local time (GMT-5).