After moving forward with the work on the race setup with positive feedback – gaining direct access to Q2 – Andrea Dovizioso then focused on a flying lap during the decisive qualifying session. Andrea Dovizioso – who posted the best provisional time on Friday – confirmed once again his competitiveness to claim first row with the third-best time in 1:38.468, just over a tenth of a second behind pole position. On the other hand, Danilo Petrucci faced a somewhat more difficult session, which put him in tenth position with a personal best of 1:39.093, but nonetheless has shown significant improvements in terms of race pace.
Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Mission Winnow Ducati) – 1:38.468 (3rd)
“I’m very happy with our speed here so far, we’ve been competitive in each session and this first row shows it. Over the last few years we had to play defense here in Argentina, but now we have further confirmation that our base has improved. We managed to get progressively closer to Marquez, he is still the man to beat here but he’s not far. There are several riders with a strong pace and weather conditions may change tomorrow, so it was particularly important to start at the front. It’ll be a tough race, but I’m quite confident about our chances to go on the attack.”