It was another luckless day for Dovizioso, who started from row 2 thanks to the fourth quickest time he set in qualifying yesterday. The Italian completed the first five laps in fifth position but was passed by Viñales and then slowed by a problem with his Desmosedici GP’s water pump on lap 10, which forced him to retire.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team # 04) – DNF
“It was a pity because another no-points score in the championship was the last thing I needed. We had a problem with the water pump: some water came out and finished on the rear wheel and I almost crashed three times so had to retire. If however we try and look at the positives, we are working well, my feeling with the bike is good and this is the most important thing for me, even though it’s true that here at Jerez we never managed to be as competitive as in the first three GPs. On a personal level it’s important for me to be sure that I haven’t made any errors in the last three races, and this gives me the confidence to try and be competitive again immediately, starting from Le Mans”.

Andrea Dovizioso put together a good run in qualifying at Jerez to take fourth place at the end of the Q2 qualifying session. As a result the Italian will start from the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix, scheduled for 1400 CET at the Andalusian circuit.
In the morning’s first session, the Ducati Team man was able to get inside the Top 10 and as a result go through directly into Q2, with seventh quickest time.
After FP4 in the early afternoon, where Dovizioso was sixth he then went out for the decisive qualifying session and set his best time on his second run, in 1’39.580, which hoisted him into the fourth slot on row 2.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’39.580 (4th)
“I am very pleased with the work we are doing this weekend. We have worked well, we stayed calm even when we were not fast and, like in Argentina and Austin, we have managed to get a very good result in these conditions. I am also satisfied because my feelings on the bike gradually improved during the sessions, and this is an important aspect. I think that the qualifying times are not very indicative for the race, because the management of the rear tyre will be the key to everything and so it will be necessary to be OK in this area. I’d like to thank my team and Ducati because it’s also down to them that we have managed to start from the second row”.

Ducati Team rider Andrea Dovizioso finished the first day of free practice for the Spanish Grand Prix in seventh place in the combined standings.
During both of today’s sessions, Dovi complained about a lack of grip at the rear and, despite improving his time in the afternoon’s FP2 run, he is still not entirely satisfied with the set-up of his Desmosedici GP machine.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team # 04) – 1’40.737 (7th)
“Today we found the conditions a bit unusual, and we still have to get used to the behaviour of the tyres, seeing as this is what makes the biggest difference. In the afternoon we tried a different front tyre and the bike’s behaviour improved. The rear tyre is still hard to manage however and we must continue to work to improve traction. When we are on used tyres, we are closer to the leaders, but we’re still lacking the pace to stay with them”.

Following the first three overseas races, Andrea Dovizioso and his team have now arrived in Spain, where the fourth round of the MotoGP World Championship will be held at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit in Andalusia on Sunday.
Last year’s Spanish Grand Prix was short of satisfaction for the Ducati Team rider as he ended the race in ninth place, after running off the track on lap 2 and dropping to the back of the field.
The Jerez de la Frontera weekend gets underway on Friday morning with the first free practice session at 9.55 am, while the 27-lap race is scheduled for Sunday at 14.00 CET.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 7th (23 points)
“Unfortunately in the last two races I missed out on two possible podium finishes, not through any fault of my own, and this is clearly a frustrating situation that reflects on my position in the standings. I am relaxed about it however because I know that in the first three races this season, I’ve always worked really well with my team throughout the weekend and I have shown that I am competitive on track. Jerez is one of the toughest circuits for the Ducati and for me, but I am very confident in what we have and so I’ll also be pushing hard in Spain to try and get back on the podium.”

Andrea Dovizioso had yet another unfortunate race after starting from row 2. The Italian, after an excellent start, finished the opening lap in second place and maintained that position until lap 5 when he was passed by Lorenzo. Dovizioso remained right behind his Spanish rival and was defending the position from a fast-recovering Pedrosa, when the Honda man made a mistake under braking at the first corner, hitting the Desmosedici GP of the blameless Italian rider and putting an end to his great race.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – DNF
“I am really very disappointed because once again today I was unable to finish my race following a mistake by another rider, and losing two possible podiums out of three is the hardest thing to accept in view of the championship. However I also want to look at the positive aspects: I didn’t hurt myself and given the way the incident happened it could have been a lot worse. In addition, in three different races, in very difficult situations to manage for the tyres, we have always been able to fight for the podium. Today we could have been second in the championship just a few points behind Marquez, so from this point of view I am very pleased with the work that we are doing. Even when we are not so fast in practice, in the race we always manage to be competitive: this is the way a factory rider has to race when he is thinking about the championship.”

The Ducati Team rider will start from the second row of the grid for the Grand Prix of the Americas, which will be held on Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas near Austin (Texas).
In the morning’s FP3 session, Dovizioso was classified in ninth place, gaining direct access to the afternoon’s Q2 session.
The Italian rider classified in seventh place in the qualifying session, but due to his team mate penalty he picked up following the GP of Argentina, he is promoted to row 2 for the race.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 2’04.339 (7th)
“Unfortunately it’s been a bit of a troubled weekend for several reasons. We have always had small issues that prevented us from doing a complete session, except for qualifying. I don’t have much feeling on the front, especially in the middle of the curve because the front end tends to close in easily, and also in qualifying I didn’t do a great time because I didn’t ride smoothly. However we are set up better for the race: with the hard rear tyre we are quick and this is surely an advantage, but I had hoped to come into qualifying with a bit more pace. Tomorrow morning in the warm-up we will try and improve a bit more and I’m confident I’ll manage to stay in the leading group in the race.”

The first day of free practice for the Grand Prix of the Americas, round 3 of the MotoGP World Championship to be held this weekend at the modern Circuit of the Americas near Austin (Texas), concluded with all the MotoGP riders setting their best times in the afternoon session.
Andrea Dovizioso notched up a time of 2’05.195 and he finished the day ninth overall in the combined FP1 and FP2 standings.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 2’05.195 (9th)
“Unfortunately this afternoon we had a few technical issues that conditioned the session a bit. Luckily they were nothing serious and, in view of this problem, I am pretty happy with the time I managed to obtain. This is confirmation that our base settings are very good and that the bike also works well here, and I am sure that tomorrow we will be able to lap even quicker and move up the timesheets. The tyre situation is still not clear for us: we did a comparison with the front tyre but we still don’t have a complete picture, while we’ll try the harder rear tyre tomorrow to see what difference it makes.”

After the second round of the season, held in Argentina last Sunday, the MotoGP teams are now arriving in the USA for the next race at the Circuit of The Americas, on the outskirts of Austin, Texas.
The Ducati Team rider Andrea Dovizioso is determined to put behind him the events of Termas de Río Hondo as quickly as possible, and in Texas he will encounter a track where he has always gone well and picked up some good results.
He scored a seventh place in 2013, a third place in 2014 and an excellent second place last year, when he also qualified on the front row alongside Marquez. The Austin weekend will get underway on Friday morning with the first free practice session at 9.55 am (16.55 CET), while the 21-lap race is scheduled for Sunday at 2 pm local time (21.00 CET).

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 5th (23 points)
“We are looking forward to the race at Austin with confidence. I know that we are competitive and I feel ready to fight things out on this fantastic track, which has completely different characteristics to the previous two. In 2014 and 2015, I managed to get onto the podium: the Texan circuit is one that I really like and so I am anxious to get out on track in order to continue the good performances we have shown so far.”

The Ducati Team rider lost a certain second podium finish in the GP of Argentina, held today at the Termas de Río Hondo circuit. Dovizioso and Iannone were in second and third place on the final lap, but an attack by the rider from Vasto on his team-mate two corners before the finishing line caused both of them to crash out. Dovizioso was able to push his bike across the line and was classified in thirteenth position.
The race was held in dry conditions, with a particular flag-to-flag format that included a mandatory bike change between laps 9 and 11.
Dovizioso, who powered away well at the lights, led for the opening two laps, and then stayed in the leading positions until coming into the pits to change his bike on lap 10. On returning to the track, the man from Forlì was then involved in a terrific scrap with Rossi, Viñales and Iannone and he was able to move into second place on the 19th and penultimate lap, before the incident that deprived him of a well-deserved runner-up slot.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 13th
“I am very disappointed because we did a great race despite it being a complicated weekend for everyone. In qualifying we went well, in the race I was running up front and in my opinion the strategy was a good one. I even changed bikes at the right moment, staying out a lap extra and making up a few seconds. In the last few laps we were in a bit of difficulty, but we managed to catch Valentino, and I tried to close all the doors during the final lap. In the penultimate corner however what everyone could see happened and I missed out on a certain second place. Looking at things positively, we were also quick here in Argentina and, if I had managed to finish the race, now we would be second in the championship just one point behind Marquez.”

Following qualifying, the Ducati Team rider will start Sunday’s Grand Prix of Argentina, the second round of the 2016 MotoGP World Championship, from row 2 of the grid, as he was able to clock the fifth quickest time on his second run.
During FP3 in the morning, all the MotoGP riders managed to improve their times, and Dovizioso (ninth) was thus guaranteed his slot in Q2.
The final free practice session, not valid for the overall results, took place before the two qualifying sessions. Dovizioso was sixth in FP4, which was interrupted by red flags towards the end after a crash by Redding.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’40.198 (5th)
“Today was an important and positive day: we found the track to be in a better condition than yesterday and the feeling with the bike is now very good. We managed to improve above all the front and so now I can push a lot harder. It’s not going to be easy to stay with the leaders in the race, in particular Marquez and Rossi, but seeing as all the sensations are good, we really must try to do so. We may also have to take into consideration the conditions tomorrow, because every day here in Argentina the track changes, and so we’ll have a good look at the situation during the warm-up.”