Danilo Petrucci admits he is “scared” about the prospect of a multi-rider battle in the opening laps of Sunday's Qatar MotoGP season opener.
The Pramac rider qualified as top Ducati rider in third after dipping underneath the old lap record with a 1:53.887s, while both factory riders Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo were fifth and ninth.
Petrucci was one of the only rider to complete a full race simulation during the Qatar test, and managed an impressive pace of mid-1:55s laps, which he replicated in FP4 using the soft tyre.
Tipped by several riders as a definite contender for the win, Petrucci is worried a frantic opening to the race could prove detrimental in his plan to stick with the top group and conserve his softer rubber, which he claims will be “key” to success in Sunday's 22-lap race.
“Yeah, I'm a little bit scared about the first laps because I think that many riders want to stay in the top positions, and you have to maybe do some overtakes to remain in the top group, and this means you use a lot of rear tyre,” he said.
“As I told you, managing the rear tyre for tomorrow is the key, I think, in the second half of the race, I hope to remain in the top group and remain in view.
“But if you check all the names and all the pace, I think will be difficult. There is Johann [Zarco], Marc [Marquez], the two Yamahas [Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi], [Dani] Pedrosa.
“Dovizioso I think is the strongest one because is very able to manage the tyre to the end, and I think Dovi has got a little bit more in the moment about managing the tyre.
“I cannot say there is a weak rider, it's impossible to predict the race tomorrow.”
Honda's Marquez, who will start second on Sunday, echoed Petrucci's sentiments about the unpredictable nature of the race, while also agreeing that Dovizioso – who has been on the podium for the last three years in Qatar – is the favourite.
“The pace also is not so bad, but the most important is tomorrow, and I think the fastest guy is not here, [that is] is Andrea, and is the favourite one for the race,” Marquez said in the post-qualifying press conference.
“It's impossible to say who will be there. The race is very, very long, but if you check the pace in FP4 everybody was with the same pace. Everybody 1:55s middle, six, seven. Maybe Danilo and Andrea were a little bit faster.
“About the race, I was happy because we work hard to try to understand the tyre.
“On the FP4 also I was with the medium rear to understand well, tomorrow looks like everything is clear for us and the key will be try to be there on the first laps, and then we will see at the end of the race.”
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