MotoGP, Dovizioso: stay calm, we haven't won yet

Petrucci is sure: “Dovizioso and Iannone will pull ahead by themselves on Sunday”. The prediction is based on the tests and the Red Bull Ring, where the GP16 machines ruled the roost. Dovi smiles, “I’m glad that Danilo thinks that, but my experience teaches me to say: let’s stay calm and see how it goes. It’s true that we were fast, but to say on Thursday that we will win at the front by ourselves seems a bit much.”

Right, because Murphy’s Law is always just around the corner, but what could go wrong?

“First of all, I know our rivals and what they are capable of, and then we need to consider the tyres - the rider from Forlì points out - Michelin has brought different tyres than the ones used in the tests and no one knows how they will perform. They could work better for us or for the others. Maybe we will have to change the bike setting and riding style. We’ll have to wait.”

And then there are the official Hondas to take into consideration, which were not at the tests.

“On paper, this track suits the riding styles of both Marquez and Pedrosa, but on the other hand, the Honda seems to suffer in acceleration from low speeds - Dovi's analysis - It depends on what will carry more weight, but I think that Marc will be very fast. After all, on the second day of tests Miller and Crutchlow were.”

Iannone is also cautious on the Austrian Thursday. After all, it is better not to count a win before the match has even begun, but that does not remove the optimism that you can feel in the air.

“I’m happy that we are back to work. I missed my bike a lot, also because, when you finish with very positive tests, you are even more anxious to get back to racing - the rider from Abruzzo says - We just need to start on the right foot and work as we did in the tests.”

And maybe achieve the same results …

“All the Ducatis were very fast. We had a significant gap ahead of our rivals and that had never happened before this year - he continues - But we need to see how much the tyres have changed. With the ones in the test we were unable to go race distance.”

The tyres are also his concern, but they are not dampening his mood.

“I know, expectations are high, but I am very positive - he adds – I am very confident and I know that we have the potential for a great weekend. But the tests are one thing and the race is another, plus the track has been changed a bit.”

In fact, the last corner has been redesigned: now it is tighter, in terms of both radius and width.

Iannone is not too convinced, “usually it is better to increase the width instead of narrowing it, but this way there is more room to run on.” Dovizioso is more positive: “it was a change that was decided during the tests. The wall was too close before.”