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MotoGP, Dovizioso: I'm annoyed, can't ride as I want

Lorenzo: “We chose the wrong tyre, but I want to remain optimistic because I have the confidence I need"

MotoGP: Dovizioso: I'm annoyed, can't ride as I want

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Far from red. Friday was pretty black for the Ducatis of Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo at Rio Honda.Both are outside the top ten, something few would have imagined. Especially the Italian, so strong in Qatar.

An uphill climb...

“When there are these problems it depends on many things and is never easy to identify them, let alone solve them. I'm frustrated because it was essential to be in the top ten, as that simplifies the weekend, especially with the chance of rain. Of course it doesn't make sense tobe too negative, because we can catch-up, passing from Q1”.

You mention an electronics problem?

“No, there's nothing specific, it can be anything. Even something small, that then conditions the day's work”.

Crutchlow said track conditions were worse in the afternoon, do you agree?

“Cal is always very extreme in his comments. In the afternoon, the track was 15-20° hotter. The track had better grip, but the temperature was worse”.

What effect does it have to see Abraham, Bautista, Petrucci and Baz in the top ten?

“There are more Ducatis up front, as a result we can fight for the positions that count on Sunday. The times set are strange, despite conditions being better than they were in previous years. It's not easy to see how others are doing in terms of pace, but we can see that of Maverick, Marc and Bautista”.

What were you missing today?

“Corner entry. At this track there's not much grip and so the bike tends to go sideways. The rider has to understand how to work to take the right line and force the braking. Without being able to do this, you can see why I was in difficulty . Also, I wasn't fluid on the bike, because with the new tyre it's hard to have the right grip”.

What's the difference between your bike and Petruccis?

“It's not very different”.

Vinales is still ahead of you all.

“Maverick did really well, but what counts is being in the top ten. You need to try and stay in the first seven/eight positions”.

While Dovizioso has to settle for fourteenth, things were worse for Jorge Lorenzo, eighteenth. We could see he was on edge in the garage, as if he didn't know which path to take.    

“It's a bad position, yes, in both the morning and afternoon's sessions, though in FP1 the gap was not so great. I'm sorry because I was confident and felt good with the pace, unfortunately we made the wrong tyre choice. When I opted for the soft, conditions had changed. We could have been closer to the top five”.

There's a risk of rain on Saturday. Will that have an impact?

“It depends. We hope qualifying takes place in the dry, because in the exits I have made I have built my confidence and am therefore optimistic”.

You're forced to play catch-up. Do you have the experience to do that?

“We've made some changes, I'm still missing something obviously. But I want to remain optimistic as we can only improve”.     

Translated by Heather Watson
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