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Yesterday, the Ducatis finally seemed to have defeated the curse of Phillip Island, but today things, unfortunately, were back to normal, which, for the ‘Reds’, means a struggle. And so, Dovizioso does not seem too surprised by his 9th place in qualifying.
“It isn’t a cold shower, but it is confirmation - he explained, analysing what happened - I had said that this would be an important test for us, because it will be useful for setting up our work over the winter. I am not worried; the situation is under control. The reasons we were so competitive from Brno on and the reasons that we struggle here are very clear.”
This, however, seemed like the right chance to dispel a few myths.
“You always hope, but this is the reality of the situation - Dovi said - These were classic Phillip Island qualifiers with a few drops of rain on a very particular track. In any case, we are more competitive than last year, and I am happy about that, but it is still not enough. With the new tyre, I can be rather close to the best, but the 27 race laps are an entirely different story.”
Andrea has managed to get a clear idea of the values in the field and he laid out a precise overview of the situation.
“Iannone has a different pace than all the rest, especially with used tyres and I would put Márquez and Viñales right behind him. The best hope is that these three will not be able to get away at the front and that they trip each other up a bit - the Italian joked - Then there is a second group with Valentino, Zarco, Rins, Petrucci and me.”
Rossi is especially of interest to Andrea, because he is the other contender for second place overall in the championship.
“The main objective, as always, is to bring home the maximum even from this race, but I’ll also need to race keeping an eye on Valentino for the overall standings. It is the right thing to do - he pointed out - We are starting from the same row and, as I expected, the Yamahas are competitive on this track. At Phillip Island, anything can happen. Tyre choice will be very important.”
