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If you look at the standings after day one, the second strongest after Honda appeared to be Ducati. Lorenzo managed to finish in 4th place, with Danilo Petrucci only 0.087 behind, and Dovizioso wasn't far back either, in 8th position.
“I have to say I'm quite pleased, though I'd have preferred to be the first Ducati - smiles Petrucci - I'm pleased because we chose to start with the setting used at Austin, so we still have things to sort and have room for improvement. I hope this is less true for our rivals”.
Isn't Jerez meant to be a tough one for Ducati?
“I thought i'd be starting on the back foot, but we quietly got to work and know what we need to do tomorrow. Anyway, Austin was meant to be a good track for us but we struggled there while we've started well here”.
But…
“It's still early to draw any conclusions, we'll wait until tomorrow because conditions weren't ideal today”.
Are you talking about the damp patches?
“Yes, it was dangerous to ride in those conditions - it's never great going over that on a bike with more than 260 hp. This is why I don't think all riders took the same risks, in fact I think the strongest guys were holding back”.
The Ducatis are competitive in terms of the flying lap, but as for pace?
“I'm not sure yet. In the sense, here we thought we'd have grip issues but we actually haven't. It's also true that before putting in the new tyre I was 11th or 12th, I don't know how competitive I can be in terms of pace, we'll find out tomorrow”.
