Andrea Dovizioso believes Jerez's new track surface will “change a lot” across the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix weekend, and is wary of the effect this will have on tyres.
Dovizioso ended Friday's running second on the combined standings, trailing Ducati team-mate Danilo Petrucci by 0.097s after setting a best lap of 1:38.006s in FP2.
The championship leader was pleased with his pace in the second session, admitting it was “important” to demonstrate strong form in the hotter conditions.
However, he does not feel his current pace is “enough” to challenge Honda's Marc Marquez – who topped FP1 and was fourth in FP2 – and remains wary of tyre performance changing with each session as more rubber is laid on the new asphalt.
“I'm happy about the second practice, because this morning the feeling was good but not good enough,” Dovizioso told motogp.com.
“In the afternoon we change the set-up and it was a bit better. I'm happy because it was important to be fast in these conditions, when it's very hot.
“With the race pace we are in the top group. It's not enough, because I think Marc is very strong. But we are close.
“I'm happy to see some other Ducatis with that speed, but it's not enough because there is a new asphalt and I think the asphalt will change during the weekend; the rubber on the ground will affect a lot how the tyres work.
“So really happy about the position, but I don't think the final result shows the reality of every ride.”
Petrucci avoids “scary” Turn 5 crash
Friday pacesetter Petrucci was forced to run off track at the Pons corner when Avintia's Karel Abraham and Aprilia wildcard Bradley Smith crashed in front of him in the closing stages.
Petrucci had been following Abraham on his previous lap, but opted to abort the lap he was on fearing the “slower” Abraham would have gotten in his way, and this ultimately meant he avoided getting caught up in this “scary moment”.
“I was at the end of my flying lap and when I was approaching the last corner I saw Abraham following [Valentino] Rossi, and the problem is Abraham always follows someone,” he said.
“In that corner I thought 'ok, maybe Abraham is slower and will maybe ruin my lap'.
“So I let them go and after three, four corners Abraham crashes. I don't know if Smith was maybe scared about [hitting Abraham's] bike and opened the throttle so quickly in the middle of the corner and highsided.
“I was able to avoid both of them, was a scary moment but fortunately for me everything was OK.”
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