Track conditions lead to Day 3 of Qatar GP action being cancelled. Riders line up on grid for tomorrow’s race according to combined free practice times, so will start from row 2.
The heavy rain that fell this afternoon at the Losail International Circuit made the track unfit for action today, especially because of pools of standing water in some parts of the circuit which remained for a few hours.
After postponing the start of track action several times, the Race Direction then decided to finally cancel today’s sessions in all categories.
The Qatar GP starting grid was therefore decided on the basis of the combined classification for the three free practice sessions, and so the Ducati Team rider, Andrea Dovizioso, will start the race from row two.

Tomorrow’s warm-up, extended to 30 minutes, will start at 16.50 (local time) and the opening GP of the season gets underway at 21.00.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’55.042 (5th)
“Unfortunately the conditions we encountered today did not allow us to test in the wet and not even to do the work that we had scheduled in case it was dry. In any case it was the right decision to cancel practice because today we didn’t have the conditions to lap safely with slicks. At this point, we will use the time available tomorrow in the warm-up to choose which tyre to use in the race and try and be as ready as possible.”

Si è disputata questa sera sul circuito di Losail, nei pressi di Doha, la prima sessione di prove del GP del Qatar.
I piloti della MotoGP sono scesi in pista alle 19:55 ora locale per 45 minuti di prove cronometrate, che si sono svolte di giovedì come è ormai consuetudine di questa prima prova del campionato mondiale.
Al termine della sessione Andrea Dovizioso, che proprio oggi ha compiuto 31 anni, ha terminato le FP1 in undicesima posizione con il crono di 1’55”873.
Domani sera sono in programma i due turni di FP2 e FP3, rispettivamente alle 18:00 e alle 20:55 ora locale.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’55”873 (11°)
“Oggi, come peraltro ci aspettavamo, non abbiamo trovato condizioni ottimali in pista, con vento e asfalto sporco nell’unico turno del weekend che probabilmente sarà asciutto prima della gara. All’inizio della sessione ho ottenuto un buon tempo, e quindi non ho voluto montare la gomma morbida a fine turno perché pensavo di restare tra i primi dieci: invece per un millesimo non ce l’ho fatta. E’ stato un mio errore, ed è un peccato perché fino a quando abbiamo utilizzato le stesse gomme degli altri ero al terzo posto, e quindi so di essere fra i più veloci.”

After completing three winter testing sessions in Malaysia and Australia in February and two weeks ago in Qatar,Andrea Dovizioso and his team are now gearing up for the opening round of the 2017 MotoGP World Championship, scheduled for Sunday evening at the floodlit Losail International Circuit on the outskirts of Doha.

This year the Italian rider, who will celebrate his 31st birthday on Thursday, the day track activity for the first GP of the season gets underway, will share the box with Jorge Lorenzo. Dovizioso will be tackling the sixty-ninth edition of the championship on the 2017-spec Ducati Desmosedici GP, which was presented to the press on January 20th at the Ducati Auditorium in Borgo Panigale. During the pre-season test sessions, Dovizioso was able to improve his feeling with the new bike, and finished the final Losail test in second place.

The Qatar weekend, unlike the rest of the races in the calendar, 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)
“In the test ten days ago at this circuit we did a good job, and so we come here ready for the different conditions that we might find. I’m pleased we were able to confirm our good performance and the bike’s competitive level, so I think we can aim for a good result. As always at the start of the season we still have a few aspects to resolve, especially for the race, because at this circuit it’s not easy to keep the same pace for 22 laps and the nature of the track takes away a lot of energy. In the last two years however I have always fought for the win and I hope to find myself in the same situation again this year, even though I know it’s not going to be easy because some of our rivals have excellent pace. I’m optimistic for the race however and I’m clearly aiming for the podium.”

Andrea Dovizioso was classified in thirteenth place at the end of the second day of MotoGP testing taking place at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar.
The Ducati Team’s Italian rider completed a total of 42 laps and set his quickest time of the day in 1’55.583 on lap 35.
In the second part of the session, Dovizioso also did a few laps with a new front fairing, which has an innovative aerodynamic shape.
Tomorrow’s final day of testing starts at 16.00 local time and finishes at 23.00 in the evening (CET +2).

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 42 laps – 1’55.583 (13th)
“Today was an unusual day because we encountered conditions that were very different from yesterday, both with the humidity and the track grip, but in my opinion it was in any case very important to also lap in this situation. For sure today was more difficult than yesterday, and we used all the session to do a lot of tests and even though the times were not so good in the final classification, it was a very productive day. In the evening I also did a couple of exits with the new fairing: in my opinion, our engineers have done a great job because it wasn’t easy to create a certain aerodynamic downforce without using the winglets. Now we are weighing up the pros and cons before we take a decision and also work out the tracks where this solution can give the biggest advantages.”

Andrea Dovizioso wrapped up the first day of the final MotoGP pre-season test session taking place from today until Sunday at the Losail International Circuit at the top of the timesheets. The Ducati Team’s Italian rider was the only man to get under the 1m55s mark and he ended up by setting the quickest time of the day in 1’54.819 on his 26th lap.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 36 laps – 1’54.819 (1st)
“In this first day of testing at Losail I had a really good feeling with my Desmosedici GP, better than I had expected, and the sensations were positive just like in Malaysia. We tried several different types of interesting set-up, which gave us some important feedback. Today everyone was very quick, but in any case I was able to set my time quite easily. We know we still have to improve certain aspects, but to start the tests in this way helps us a lot for the work that we have to do in the next couple of days.”