Saturday in Portugal started nearly the way Friday has ended; with rain showers and cold temperatures. While the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve was still completely wet for Free Practice three this morning, the tarmac started to dry slightly during the FP4 session after lunch time. For Qualifying one the conditions have been mixed and therefore delivered a lot of tension and excitement.
With more standing water on track and also rain coming back during FP3 this morning, WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team’s Andrea Dovizioso was unable to improve on his fastest time from FP2 on Friday afternoon. He concluded the practice sessions in P17 overall.
For Qualifying, the sun came out at the Algarve, yet the track was still too wet for the Italian to switch to slicks, so he tried to get the best out of his rain tyres. Dovi pushed hard and was on top momentarily with less than three minutes to go, but couldn’t take profit from a second last lap as the yellow flags came out due to a crash of a contender. He ended up in P6 and will have to start the fifth round of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship season tomorrow from row six on the grid.
Andrea Dovizioso #04
P 16“It has been another very difficult day from the morning. On the wet, I struggle a bit and in the afternoon the conditions have been very strange. At the end, I did a good lap time with the rain tyres in Q1, but the best tyre in that moment was the slick. I didn’t feel confident enough to put that on, it was about one lap. Some riders took the risk and it was the right decision. Unfortunately, I ended up in 16th, but my Qualifying one was pretty ok”.