Andrea Dovizioso powered to a superb pole position for tomorrow’s Assen TT Grand Prix, which will take place tomorrow at the spectacular Dutch circuit.
The Italian set the quickest time overall of 1’45.246 on his final lap of qualifying, which was held on a wet track. Dovizioso used rain tyres in Q2.
This morning’s FP3 session was held in dry conditions and Dovizioso was quickest in 1’33.308, and went through directly into the afternoon’s Q2 session.
After the final pre-qualifying free practice run, in which Dovizioso finished twelfth, had been held in the rain, the Italian went out for Q2 and clinched his first pole of the year, the fourth in his career.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’45.246 (1st)
“I am very happy with the job we have done in these four sessions. This morning in the dry we were quickest, with a good pace, but this afternoon it wasn’t so much a question of pace in the wet, but more of being ready to analyze the situation, which was constantly changing. We had opted for a one-run strategy, because it didn’t look like the track was drying out, but after two laps I saw that a few dry lines were forming and, even though it was still raining a bit, I decided to stop to fit a new rear rain tyre, despite the fact that we hadn’t agreed on this with the team. On returning to the track I was also lucky to tuck in behind Rossi: I had already identified the corners where I could push like on the dry track, while in the others I just followed him. As always it’s going to be tough to fight with the leading group, but tomorrow we’ll give it a go”.