MotoGP, Dovizioso: "Quartararo? I don't see how I can beat him"

The seventh place in the Phillip Island race is certainly not the result that Andrea Dovizioso and Ducati would have wished for on the eve of the Australian GP. It must be said, however, that the Dovi, with the 9 points won last week, mathematically confirmed the second place in the world championship for the third consecutive year. Even in this case, we certainly don't have to toast to champagne but being the first behind such a Marquez can be considered a victory.

At the Dovi, however, the success in the race is missing from the GP of Austria and the fact that this weekend we are racing Malaysia, where Andrea won 2 of the last 3 GPs, bodes well even if both victories had arrived in the rain. Today the Ducati rider closed the first day of free practice in third position, closed in a sandwich between the Yamaha of the Petronas team and those of the official team. What day was it?

"Difficult – Dovizioso began – but all in all in line with expectations. In reality, during FP2 I went faster than I expected. I did a nice tour and in terms of pace I'm in the best group, I'm not the best but we're all lined up. Apart from Quartararo, at the moment I don't see how we can beat him ".

In the afternoon you went much better, did you change anything on the bike?

"Yes, I tried one different arrangement that really served me. It is not very easy to manage but the merits are greater than the defects "

What are the expectations for the race at this point?

"The step I took this afternoon on used tires will allow us to play important positions in the race, something that never happened in the dry. I have possibilities "

In which direction are you going for the choice of tires?

"Last year I had suffered a lot with middle school and then I have to try to understand what is the best choice for Sunday's race. Maybe the soft one can give me something but today I didn't have time to make a precise comparison ”.

In front of everyone there is Fabio Quartararo who set the new record in the afternoon of the track. Did you expect so much speed from day one?

"Quartararo made a great tour – said Dovi – I congratulate him because is having a great season. Next year will be fighting for the title because besides the speed on the dry lap it has a lot of substance and in the race it is always there ”.

In addition to Quartararo, as mentioned, you are sandwiched between the four Yamaha motorcycles. They look like the favorites for the race.

"There Yamaha works well on this track and I'm not surprised to see this performance. They are very strong in the middle of the corner and have a good braking, all of which are needed on a track like this ".

Here in Sepang you have won MotoGP twice also winning 4 podiums in all classes. What do you like about this circuit?

"We have to drive very soft because there is very little grip, both at the rear and at the front, it's not easy but it's my favorite thing of this track and of this Grand Prix even if with Ducati it is not very easy to manage this aspect ".

Audio collected by Matteo Aglio