News 3 May 2018

Positive mindset for points leader Dovizioso ahead of Jerez

Italian ace holds slender one-point lead heading into first European round.

Source: Supplied.

Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso is in a positive frame of mind ahead of this weekend’s first European round of the MotoGP World Championship in Jerez, Spain, where he a carries a slender one-point lead over defending champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda).

The Italian ace expressed his enthusiasm from last November’s test at the venue, however he did display concerns over the differing weather conditions, mentioning it’s a case of feeling out the circuit in Friday’s practice to determine if the team’s learnings of new asphalt will be beneficial for the weekend.

“We come to the first European round of the season first in the standings,” said Dovizioso. “[It’s] a situation that is clearly much better than last year, and this is certainly positive. We managed the first three rounds well, but we could also see that our rivals are all really fast.

“In November last year we did a good test at the Jerez circuit and the new asphalt had good grip, but it was colder then so we will have to wait for Friday to get a better idea of the track conditions.”

Dovizioso was fifth at the Jerez grand prix in 2017, a result in which he plans to better this weekend as he endeavours to bridge a gap in the points chase.

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