Two days of private testing organized by the Ducati Team at the Misano World Circuit concluded today. In truly sweltering conditions (track 61°C/air 36°C), the Ducati rider was mainly able to devote himself to a back-to-back comparison of a variety of different set-up solutions.
Dovizioso stayed out on track until the end of the afternoon session, notching up a total of 132 laps in two days.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – best time 1’32.5 (total 132 laps)
“These two days of testing at Misano have been really useful, because we were able to do the set-up testing work that we were interested in. During race weekends, we never have the right amount of time to devote ourselves to this. We worked on fine-tuning, both the electronics and the set-up, and our pace is not bad at all: my quickest lap I did this morning with a used tyre, but in the afternoon it was really very hot and we didn’t try to improve our times, and even avoided using the soft tyres.”

Andrea Dovizioso will start Sunday’s German Grand Prix, round 9 of the 2015 MotoGP World Championship at the Sachsenring, from the fourth row of the grid. The 29-year-old terminated the 15-minute session down in eleventh place.
During the morning’s FP3 session, the Ducati Team rider set fourth quickest time, guaranteeing him direct entry into Q2. Dovi then finished the afternoon’s pre-qualifying FP4 session in eleventh place.
In the decisive Q2 run, the Italian rider went out on track with soft rear tyres and set his best time on his second exit.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’21.503 (11th)
“I am disappointed with my grid position because starting close to the front was what interested me the most in view of the race. It is really important here at the Sachsenring, which is a short and narrow track, but I was unable to do a good qualifying session because the front of the bike closed in on me too easily through the curves, and so I couldn’t push as hard as I wanted. However my pace is not bad and so I’ll try and make up some places in the race.”

The first two free practice sessions for the German Grand Prix, to be held at the Sachsenring circuit not far from Chemnitz in the former East Germany, concluded with Andrea Dovizioso in tenth place at seven-tenths from the top slot.
On a sunny but cold day, the Ducati Team rider took to the track in the morning for first free practice, at the end of which he placed sixth.
In the afternoon’s FP2, he tested the new asymmetric front slick for the first time, and then towards the end of the session he went out on the soft rear tyre to set his quickest time, in 1’22.340.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’22.340 (10th)
“I am not very happy with the afternoon session when I hoped to be able to make some further improvement, but the modifications we tried did not work the way we had hoped for. Even when the things we try don’t give the expected results, they are in any case useful to understand the direction to take and this will help us for tomorrow. Of course we still have a lot to do because our speed is not as much as we want, but I am confident for tomorrow.”

After the last race in the Netherlands, Andrea Dovizioso has now arrived in Germany for the ninth round of this year’s MotoGP World Championship, which will also bring an end to the first half of the 2015 season. The German GP will take place this weekend at the Sachsenring circuit, near the town of Chemnitz in the former East Germany.
Sachsenring is one of the shortest and slowest tracks on the calendar, but is also one of the most difficult. Its anti-clockwise layout includes a large number of tight corners, almost all left-handers, as well as various ups and downs.
Dovizioso, who notched up his 230th consecutive GP start in all categories at Assen, scored a MotoGP podium at the German circuit in 2012 with third place.

The weekend timetable gets underway on Friday morning with the first Free Practice session at 9.55 CET, while the 30-lap race is scheduled for Sunday at 14.00 CET.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 5th (87 points)
“In the last couple of races maybe we have lost a bit of speed compared to our rivals. Even though my teammate did a good job at Assen, he could only cross the finish-line some way behind the leaders. The impression is that our adversaries have improved their performance and increased the gap. However every circuit has its different characteristics, and we will try and get closer at the Sachsenring. I think the German circuit is a bit short and narrow for MotoGP bikes, but the GP15 is proving to be competitive at every circuit and we must continue to work to try and get the best possible result every weekend.”