Jorge Lorenzo made a positive debut on the Ducati Desmosedici GP today, on the first day of IRTA tests at Valencia, which officially mark the start of the 2017 MotoGP season. The three-time MotoGP world champion from Mallorca completed 60 laps on the 2016 version of the Italian bike, setting a best time of 1’31.052, and he finished the day in third place.

Team-mate Andrea Dovizioso was also on good form, switching between the 2016 and 2017 versions of the Desmosedici GP, as well as carrying out several runs on the bike without winglets. The Italian, who did a total of 54 laps, ended the day in fifth place with a best time of 1’31.131.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’31.131 (5th), 54 laps

“These two days of testing are very important for us, because they are the last ones we can do until the IRTA test at Sepang at the end of January 2017, and so we are doing everything necessary to define the details of next year’s bike. Today went well and we did several runs on the 2016 bike, both with and without wings, before switching to the new bike, which immediately proved to be very competitive, seeing as we were able to replicate virtually the same times. Tomorrow we hope the weather will remain good, because it will mean we’ll have all day to carry on with our work schedule.”