Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Dovizioso will start from rows 2 and 3 respectively for the Thailand Grand Prix, round 15 of the MotoGP World Championship scheduled to take place tomorrow at the Buriram International Circuit.
Petrucci, who was unable to improve on the eleventh quickest time he set yesterday because of the torrential rain that fell until just before the start of FP3, had to take part in Q1, in which he finished first with a time of 1’30.685. In Q2 Danilo then set a time of 1’30.522 to grab fifth place on the grid and a row 2 start for tomorrow’s race.
It was seventh quickest time and row 3 of the grid on the other hand for Dovizioso who, thanks to his eighth-quickest time yesterday, went through directly into Q2. Andrea recorded a time of 1’30.692 at the end of the final lap of his second run.
Danilo Petrucci (#9 Ducati Team) – 1’30.522 (5th)
“Finally I was able to do a good qualifying session, despite the weather conditions this morning making it a bit difficult for us. We had to go through Q1, but I defended myself well and together with the team we did a great job. As I said yesterday, we have a good idea of the direction to work in and as a result I’m back amongst the grid positions where I should be. I’m very happy because I can see that things are beginning to function: I want to thank all the people who have been helping me, both in the racing department back in Bologna and in my team, and tomorrow I want to finish off the job we did today with a great result”.
Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 1’30.692 (7th)
“My feeling with the bike is much better than yesterday and we were quite fast on used tyres, so I’ve got good sensations for tomorrow. Unfortunately, we were unable to get the best out of the new tyres in qualifying and so tomorrow I will start from the third row of the grid, but with a good start I think I can do a good race because it will be a long grand prix and there are a lot of us with a similar pace. We will decide on our strategy during the race, but we’ve been working well and I’m confident for tomorrow”.
The two factory Ducati riders will be back on track tomorrow, Sunday 6th October, at 9.40 am local time (04.40 CET) for the morning warm-up for the 26-lap race, which is scheduled to start at 14.00 local time (09.00 CET).
