Motegi winner and title challenger Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) had a tough day in qualifying for the Australian GP, eventually lining up P11 after having also suffered a crash in FP4. Unhurt and just losing a little confidence, the Ducati rider explained what happened:
“The medium front tyre was on the limit on the right, I braked too hard and lost the front,” says the Italian. “A classic Phillip Island crash. That made me lose some confidence on the front and in the end I didn’t make a good laptime.”
Points are given out on Sunday, however – something the Borgo Panigale factory man knows, having gone from ninth on the grid to the top step in Japan. Putting qualifying behind him, he’s guardedly optimistic about improvements on Sunday:
“I think the reality is different to what qualifying shows,” affirms the Italian as he looks ahead. “Marc’s pace is fastest but after him, we’re there. It’s not enough and we have to work on it, but we have margin to improve. My feeling yesterday wasn’t bad, nor today before the crash when I was quite consistent. We have limits but it’s important to create a good feeling with me and the bike again, and to be smooth in the race because the race is long and the consumption of the rear tyre is very high. Anything can happen in 27 laps.”
That is more than true, something to which history both ancient and recent can attest. 27 laps of the Island begin at 16:00 local time (GMT +11) on Sunday, with ‘DesmoDovi’ pushing to fight through from the fourth row.