Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna and the Rimini Riviera: ninth Danilo Petrucci after the first two free practice sessions in Misano Adriatico. Andrea Dovizioso closes Day 1 in twelfth position
The Ducati Team was back in action at Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” today, stage this weekend of the seventh round of the 2020 MotoGP World Championship; the Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna and the Rimini Riviera.
After having completed a long day of official testing at the same race venue last Tuesday, Danilo Petrucci returned to the track today finding immediately good sensations aboard his Ducati Desmosedici GP bike. Eleventh in 1:32.435 at the end of the first free practice session this morning, the rider from Terni managed to improve by almost half of a second in the “time attack” this afternoon, setting a good lap time in 1:31.973 and ending with the ninth time overall on Friday, just 345 thousandths of a second from today’s pacesetter.
Andrea Dovizioso, current championship leader, ended the day with the twelfth time overall. After having completed a positive test last Tuesday, the rider from the Bologna-based squad spent the day looking for the best setup ahead of Sunday’s race, ending the day with a time of 1:32.152, that he posted during this morning FP1.
Danilo Petrucci (#9 Ducati Team) – 1:31.973 (9th)
“After last Tuesday’s test, we were able to take some steps forward. Since this morning, I have been able to have positive sensations on my bike. This afternoon I did a good lap time and, although it will not be enough to get directly into Q2, I am confident because we still have some room for improvements. We hope to be able to do so tomorrow morning in FP3, where it will be crucial to stay in the top ten.”
Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 1:32.152 (12th)
“Today, we preferred to focus on the preparations for the race, without worrying too much about the lap times. We have made some progress, but it is still not enough: our rivals have also improved a lot since last Tuesday’s test. In any case, I am confident: we know where we need to work on to be more competitive. Now we need to keep our concentration: tomorrow morning it will be important to close FP3 in the top ten”.
The Ducati Team will be back out on track tomorrow at 9:55 AM for the third free practice session. The qualifying for the Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna and the Rimini Riviera will be held starting from 2:10 PM local time, after FP4.
