- Fifth-row start for Danilo Petrucci, fifteenth in qualifying for the Valencia GP. Andrea Dovizioso will start from seventeenth on the grid, from the sixth row.
- Jack Miller, almost takes pole position with the Ducati Desmosedici GP bike of the Pramac Racing Team, as he closes second in qualifying today.
Qualifying for the Valencia GP, scheduled for this weekend at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Cheste, was affected by the light rain that had started to fall again right before the start of the two sessions without completely wetting the surface of the Spanish track this afternoon.
Despite having been able to improve his lap time during FP3 this morning, Danilo Petrucci was forced to take part in Q1 this afternoon, as he closed the first three free practise sessions with the twelfth time overall. However, with the track conditions made tricky by the light rain, the rider from Terni couldn’t make the most of the new soft tyre, closing fifth quickest, and qualifying fifteenth on the fifth row of the grid.
Andrea Dovizioso was also forced to take part in Q1 today after closing thirteenth overall the first three free practice sessions. As the rain intensified during the final stages of qualifying, the rider from Forlì wasn’t able to make the most of his last flying lap, closing with the seventh-fastest time in Q1 and getting to start from the sixth row of the grid, from the seventeenth spot, in tomorrow’s race.
It was an outstanding performance from Jack Miller in qualifying today. The Australian rider of the Pramac Racing Team took a spot on the front row of the grid, closing second and missing out on pole by only 96 thousandths of a second.
Danilo Petrucci (#9 Ducati Team) – 1:31.601 (15th)
“This morning, my feeling with the bike was quite good, and we missed the access to Q2 by only a few thousandths of a second. Unfortunately, in Q1, the conditions were quite difficult: I tried to push, but with the light rain, I took a couple of risks, and I couldn’t do better. Let’s hope the weather will improve tomorrow and to be able to do a good start in the race.”
Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 1:31.606 (17th)
“I am quite disappointed with today’s qualifying. We worked a lot for the race during these days, and we were able to find a good pace. Unfortunately, I expect a very tough race tomorrow, as we will be starting from far back on the grid. In qualifying, with the new tyre, my feeling wasn’t that bad, but towards the end of the session, the rain started to fall heavier, and I couldn’t push harder”.
Tomorrow at 10:00 am local time (GMT +1.00), the Ducati Team riders will return to the track for the last twenty minutes of warm-up before heading into the race at 2:00 pm on a 27-lap distance.
