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Ducati’s response to the new rules that ban winglets was expected and on the second day of tests in Qatar, the men in red unveiled the new fairing. At Borgo Panigale they went in a direction that is close in concept to the one Aprilia has taken: not concealed winglets, but a top fairing that seems to have been designed by the wind.
“It has an effect. It is quite imposing” Dovizioso jokes after having the honour of being the first to try it. “First impressions are good. I think that our engineers did a very good job - he says – It is hard to create an important aerodynamic load with the limits the new rules set and I am happy with the results.”
What are the effects it has?
“The same as the winglets last year. There is more stability and you can accelerate more. There are also some drawbacks, like there were with the winglets.”
Can you tell us what they are?
“No (he laughs).”
Will you use the new fairing in the race?
“We still haven’t decided. We need to evaluate whether we will use it already on this track or on others. At the moment, it is not our priority. It is not what we need right now.”
Will you decide tomorrow?
“Tomorrow we will do other tests, but in any case, it is something that can be introduced easily during the race weekend. We have clear numbers of what happens and a lot of experience with the winglets, so we have the situation well in hand from this point of view.”
It did not come too late?
“No, because in the end it is nothing new. They tried to create the same effects as the winglets and the engineers did a very good job. It was important to try it for the development.”
Yesterday Marquez crashed after putting on the new fairing because of the different balance…
“It is completely different than ours. I can’t really know what its effects are and then it also depends on how much aerodynamic load it creates.”
What type of work did you do today?
“The track was in completely different conditions. There wasn’t much grip and there was a lot of wind when I began lapping. It was difficult to manage the bike, but I am happy to have found these conditions today, because it could be like that on race weekend, so it is important to work on understanding which direction to go.”
Were you successful?
“I am happy, even if it is not like yesterday. The time does not reflect our potential. I worked to improve my confidence in these conditions and our limits. I put on the soft tyre in the final stages and it was an interesting test, although I didn’t go fast because I need to work on other aspects. I could have been among the leaders, but that is not what we need for the race.”
Are you thinking about Viñales?
“He demonstrated once again that he is very fast. When the conditions were the most difficult, he was the only one doing certain times. He’s the problem, not the fairing (he laughs).”
Tomorrow will be the last day of tests. What is on the programme?
“We would like to do a race simulation, but it will depend on the conditions we find.”
