MotoGP, Dovizioso: Team strategy? Impossible with Iannone

The “perfect lap” eluded him, the one that would have earned him pole position, but as always, Dovizioso had prepared perfectly for the race. His analytical spirit keeps him from opening up to proclamations, but he knows that he has some good cards to play.

At the Red Bull Ring, Ducati has maintained its advantage, even though it has been reduced, and the main rival is the rider on the other side of the garage. “Team strategy? With Iannone? Be serious. Maybe if I had another teammate”, Andrea jokes (but not too much).

Then he moves on to sum up his weekend.

“I’m pleased. We have incredible speed and we have consistently moved in the right direction. However, only the race will remove all doubts. As I had said, Yamaha has come closer and we will only be able to apply strategy in the race. Partly because this is a particular track where it is easy to be fast when you are following another rider. Anyway, we are on a good trend and we can fight for the win.”

What Ducati has been chasing since the post-Stoner period.

“I feel the pressure. I know that it would be an important result - he admits – But in the race the pressure will disappear and it will not be a problem.”

The unknowns are other things.

“I am satisfied with how I prepared. We worked well on the long runs - he smiles - With the used tyres I’m fast, but only in the race will we see how they perform over full distance. The speed after 16 or 17 laps will be the key. I know that I have good speed and that also allows me to look after the tyres.”

It would seem that everything is, at least slightly, downhill from here.

“The advantages we have on this track exceed the disadvantage - Dovi admits - In practice I did what I could to prepare for the race, but we will not be racing alone. It would seem that we have more than our rivals, but we don’t know how much.”

Predictions?

“I tried to come up with an idea of what will happen, but I really do not know what to expect - he concludes - Our acceleration will help us. We have a margin but we’ll need to manage it.”