Winner of the Austrian Grand Prix last weekend, Andrea Dovizioso is bound to be seen as one of the men to beat this weekend on the Red Bull Ring, for the second race in a row on the Austrian route. At the end of the first day of free practice, the Italian believes that the situation has not really changed in terms of the forces present. He finished the morning session in second position four tenths behind the best time in Jack Miller, before focusing on substantive work in the afternoon, for a session concluded in 15th place.
“The competition is very strong”, remember the one who now hunts Fabio Quartararo in the championship. “At the moment I think we are in a similar situation regarding riders who can fight for victory. There are the two Suzuki, Pol [Espargaró] think, Oliveira, Jack [Miller] and me. I think it’s the pilots who are a little ahead of the others. Nakagami is fast, the Yamaha yoyos a bit … The situation remains similar to the first race, apart from the operation of the tires. After the [première] race everyone knows more about their situation. Everyone is a little more focused on the mediums, to understand them and also because the temperatures are high. “
Third of the day on the combined timesheet, Dovizioso therefore perceives a hierarchy which has not changed, but within which he is particularly wary of Suzuki, mainly because of their regularity in race pace. “They are very good in the middle of the curve and they get better under braking”, he points out. “They are very good under braking, very similar to us, and much better in the middle of the corners. […] They are able to be regular, to go fast, more regularly than the others now, and that is a good point for them. “
The approach to work is necessarily a little different on a Friday like this. For the second time in two months, the riders are doing two races at the same place, which allows a slight change in the way they enter the second weekend.
“We didn’t know which type of tire was the best, also because we weren’t able to work a lot last week due to the weather”, however, recalls the Ducati rider. “It was good with the soft and we are continuing with it. It looks like the medium works better than normal, but we don’t know exactly because in free practice the medium is always better. But last year also the medium seemed better. in free practice, and in the race it didn’t work as well as in free practice. The temperature affects each tire a lot, the tire’s work. The potential is very similar, for the race the medium seems a little better, but still a little better. times it depends on the temperature. If suddenly it gets colder, as it will be, the potential will be different. This is like always the question mark. “
The stage seems set, but a parameter could now upset everything, and it is located in the sky of Spielberg: “The weather looks different for Sunday so all the work we are doing right now may not be good for the race, but it is what we can do. We did a lot of laps with the soft and medium. this afternoon, on used tires, and it was really good. “
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