After presenting its new lineup and livery at Neuchâtel (Switzerland) two weeks ago, the Mission Winnow Ducati team officially started its 2019 campaign at Sepang (Malaysia), home of a three-day official MotoGP test.
In the first day of testing, characterized by hot, sunny conditions – with more than 30 degrees outside and 55 on the tarmac – Andrea Dovizioso started his program slightly after 10 a.m. and took advantage of the track time to work across the board and evaluate technical upgrades on the Desmosedici GP19, which was already taken to the track for a shakedown by the official test rider Michele Pirro in the previous days.
Dovizioso finished in eighth place in 2:00.197 at just 0.146 seconds behind his teammate with 49 laps to his tally.
Andrea Dovizioso (#04, Mission Winnow Ducati) – 2:00.197 (8th)
“Today has been really positive because we found the track in good conditions already and the weather stayed dry. We made some comparisons but we haven’t found substantial differences yet so we need to make more evaluations in the following days. We have a really good base, and the work done by Michele Pirro is always helpful to this end, because he can try some components beforehand, saving us precious time. Also, I felt great physically, so I’m pretty happy overall.”