The Ducati Team rider, Andrea Dovizioso, produced a great race in the opening round of the 2015 MotoGP World Championship – the Grand Prix of Qatar – held under floodlights at the Losail International Circuit on the outskirts of Doha.
Dovizioso, who started from pole position, powered away into the lead during the opening lap, before engaging in a terrific battle with Jorge Lorenzo until lap 18, when he moved into the lead once again, this time followed by Valentino Rossi. On the twenty-first and penultimate lap Rossi was able to slip past and Dovizioso tried to attack him for the win, but had to settle for an excellent second place, just 0.174 seconds away from the top slot.
The Grand Prix of Qatar saw an exceptional race debut for the new Ducati Desmosedici GP15, which made its track debut just over one month ago in the Sepang 2 tests.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04)- 2nd

“This is a special result for Ducati and for me, after everything we have been through in the last few years, and it rewards the work that we have done together to arrive at this point. I never expected to be so competitive in the first race, and it really is an extraordinary result. I want to thank all the engineers and the people in Bologna, who managed to get the bike ready in time for the Sepang 2 tests, the mechanics who have worked so hard this weekend and all the guys in Ducati Corse for the commitment they have demonstrated with this project. Iannone and I managed to get two podiums for Ducati and that’s a great result, but above all now I believe that this is only a starting-point for the future.”

Andrea Dovizioso put in a splendid performance in qualifying for the Grand Prix of Qatar as the Ducati Team’s Italian rider powered to pole position with a time of 1’54.113, at the same time taking the brand-new Desmosedici GP15 to its race debut in the best possible way.
Dovizioso had previously stormed to second in the fourth free practice session (FP4) before qualifying, always using the medium compound rear tyre and lapping in excellent times.
In Q2, Desmodovi instead used the soft rear tyre at his disposal: in that session Dovizioso set his best time to grab the pole on lap 5.
Today’s was the second pole position on a Ducati for Andrea Dovizioso after the one he obtained last year at Motegi, and the third in his MotoGP career.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04)- 1’54.113 (1st)

“I am very pleased because today’s pole position is the result of the work of an entire team of people: after two years in which we have suffered, finally we have succeeded in making a really competitive bike, and to be honest I did not think that we would be immediately so fast with the GP15. We worked really well during all the tests, even though we did not have much time available to develop the new bike. With the soft tyre, we managed to set a really awesome time, but even in the fourth free practice session with the medium tyre the feeling with the GP15 was something special, so I’m confident and I think that tomorrow we can fight for the podium. I want to thank Ducati and all the engineers who worked day and night in Bologna to get the bike ready for the Sepang 2 test, and I hope that I have been able to repay them with today’s pole position.”

Andrea Dovizioso ended up sixth overall, at just 222/1000ths away from the top in the second day of free practice at local circuit.
The overall standings see the entire field pretty close together, with a total of 18 riders covered by less than one second and eight riders separated by less than three-tenths.
Andrea Dovizioso exclusively went out on track today with the winglet version of his Desmosedici GP15 and he set his best time (1’55.044) on his fifteenth lap, after fitting a ‘soft’ rear tyre. Dovi had in any case set some positive times throughout the session, using the medium compound rear tyre option.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04)- 1’55.044 (6th)

“I am very pleased with the work that we’ve been doing these days, and we succeeded in testing a lot of things, some of which were positive. I don’t yet have a perfect feeling with my GP15, but despite this I managed to lap in 1’55.6 with the used tyre and I think that is a very good pace. However we have to improve because we’re still lacking a bit of stability when braking and this is quite important in view of the race, but we do have the speed and tomorrow we’ve still got a fourth free practice session to work on fine-tuning the bike. My lap on the soft tyre wasn’t perfect but it was important to remain in the top 10, and try out the grip on this tyre in view of tomorrow’s qualifying session.”

The 2015 MotoGP World Championship got underway today at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar. The field of riders took to the track at 7.55 pm local time for the first 45 minutes of free practice and at the end of the session Andrea Dovizioso was classified seventh.
During the session, ‘Desmodovi’ used a sole set of tyres, the hardest compound available (medium), and he took to the track with both GP15 bikes at his disposal, completing a total of 17 laps.
Tomorrow will see two more sessions of free practice, again lasting 45 minutes each, at 6 pm and 8.55 pm in the evening (Qatar time).

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04)- 1’55.980 (7th)

“Conditions today were a bit different to those during the tests and we were not particularly quick. In this session we tried both bikes to compare two different set-ups but we were unable to find the same feeling that we had last week. Now we have to analyze the data to understand which direction to take tomorrow. It didn’t go bad today, but we have to improve the feeling at the front under braking and the other things that did not allow us to repeat our testing performance. As a first session, it was OK but in tomorrow’s two we have to make an important step forward.”

After the winter tests in Malaysia in February and Qatar in mid-March, Andrea Dovizioso and the Ducati Team are now all set for the opening round of the 2015 MotoGP World Championship, scheduled to take place on Sunday evening at the floodlit Losail International Circuit.

Desmodovi will be giving the race debut to the new Ducati Desmosedici GP15, which was unveiled to the press just over one month ago in Ducati headquarters in Bologna, and which had its shakedown in the Sepang 2 test at the end of February. Andrea Dovizioso was immediately able to appreciate the characteristics of the new bike; he set interesting times in Malaysia and then, two weeks later in Qatar, finished the final two days of pre-season testing in first place.

The Qatar weekend will begin on Thursday evening with the first Free Practice session, while the race will be held on Sunday at 9pm local time (20.00 CET).

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04)

“I am really pleased with the test in Qatar, because I was fast on both new and used tyres. I start the season with optimism because the new GP15 is a much better bike than the previous model, in Qatar it adapted really well immediately and so I think we can do well in the race. The Losail circuit is very unusual, but I’ve always gone well at this track and so I can’t wait to line up for the first race.”

Today’s third day of pre-season IRTA testing in Qatar was characterized by the rain that began to fall on the Losail International Circuit in the early afternoon and which then intensified as the day wore on, making it impossible for the riders to go out on track. In Qatar, the possibility of using rain tyres is not an option due to the floodlit illumination of the track, which creates glare on the wet surface.
As a result, bikes and riders remained in the garage and so the final testing day came to an early end also for the two Ducati Team riders.
The times set yesterday on day 2 remain unchanged, leaving Andrea Dovizioso at the top of the timesheets with a 1’54.907 lap.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04)-1’54.907 (1st), total 86 laps

“We are very satisfied with the results obtained in the first two days of testing in Qatar, because we were always very quick both on new tyres and used ones. It’s a pity that today we were unable to go out on track, because we had some important tests to do in view of the race and we wanted to gather some extra data, but the rain made it impossible. In any case we start the season very satisfied over the work done with the new GP15, which immediately went well here in Qatar. I really think that we can have our say in the race, and for sure things are a lot more positive than last year. I want to thank my team and all the guys in Ducati Corse because they have worked really hard and very well!”

Day 2 of pre-season IRTA testing at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar again proved to be positive for the Ducati Team, as Andrea Dovizioso continued with set-up work on his Desmosedici GP15 bike, always using the hardest compound tyres available for the Italian squad.
From his eighteenth lap onwards, Dovizioso, who was constantly up at the front throughout today’s session, also experimented with a fairing that sported two aerodynamic carbon winglets, and it was on this GP15 “with wings” that he set his best time of the day in 1’54.907 on lap 33, guaranteeing him the top slot at the end of the day.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04)-1’54.907 (1st), 38 laps

“I am very pleased with my time today: we worked really well and always used the hard tyre, just like yesterday. I am also happy from the point of view of our speed because we are able to be very competitive both with used tyres and with new ones. We still have to improve certain aspects, like stability under braking, and in the first part of acceleration the bike still moves a bit too much, but as for our lap speed we are at a good point. Now we’re working on fine-tuning and on race distance, because on this track the drop in tyre performance is very significant.”

Andrea Dovizioso was on great form today on the opening day of the three-day IRTA test taking place at the Losail circuit in Qatar. After running in the leading positions throughout the session, the Ducati Team rider finished the day in second place.
Dovizioso began his testing schedule right at the start of the session, around four o’clock, and completed a few laps with the Desmosedici GP14.3 before stepping onto his GP15 and continuing on the same bike until the end of the day. He did a total of 48 laps, the best of which was 1’55.363, and finished the session in second place.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04)-1’55.363 (2nd), 48 laps

“I am very satisfied with this first day here in Qatar, because we immediately got off to a fast start and this is always important. For sure we still have a lot of work to do because there are a few aspects of the GP15 that we have to improve before we arrive at the race, but I am happy with the base settings we have established here. Tomorrow we’ll do some important tests to better understand our new bike, but as I said before today was a very positive start.”