MotoGP: Ducati duo relishing ‘beautiful Silverstone’

The Ducati MotoGP duo of Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo say they’re relishing the chance to ride one of the best circuits on the calendar when action kicks off tomorrow for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

One of the fastest and most flowing circuits of the season, Austrian Grand Prix winner Dovizioso is confident that they’ll be able to maintain the pace that he displayed last time out when action gets underway despite the nuances of the Northamptonshire circuit.

“After the win in Austria I’m really happy to get back on track at Silverstone. The British circuit is beautiful, but for sure the weekend will be very challenging due to the always changeable weather conditions, and also because the track is full of bumps that make everything more difficult. The test at Misano was very important because we were able to do some work that will be useful both for Silverstone and for the San Marino GP in a couple of weeks’ time.”

And as the confidence continues to grow on the other side of the garage, teammate Lorenzo sounds upbeat going into the weekend’s action – and says he even has a chance to win if things go in his favour.

“The last two races at Brno and in Austria have boosted my confidence because we improved in many areas and so the aim for Silverstone is to continue this positive trend and get amongst the front-runners right from first practice on Friday. I really like this track, despite the bumps in the surface we have found in the last few years. One of the key factors for the race will be the weather, which is always pretty unstable in England, but our bike has proved to be competitive both in the wet and the dry. Tuesday’s test at Misano was positive and confirmed that we are working in the right direction: I did almost 100 laps and I am now riding my Desmosedici more naturally.

“It depends on the weather, but if it’s full wet then we will have a great chance to fight for the win. The bike is really competitive in the wet. If it’s mixed conditions then it’s always a lottery, and if it’s dry then I guess we’ll be closer than we were at the start of the season, I hope! We were close in the Red Bull Ring and I hope we can be even closer again there.”