Day 1 of MotoGP official testing at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit concluded today at 17.30, after sunny weather and mild temperatures allowed the teams and riders to put in some vital track time in this last round of tests in 2018.

The Ducati Team riders continued development work on the 2019 version of the Desmosedici GP, both riders completing 53 laps and setting good times. Danilo Petrucci ended the day at the top of the timesheets with a lap of 1’37.968 while Andrea Dovizioso, who crashed at turn 5 towards the end of the session, was just behind in second with a time of 1’38.185. In the evening Andrea went for a check-up with the Clinica Mobile doctors, who diagnosed him with a bruised left thumb, but the Italian rider should be able to go out on track again tomorrow.

The test also saw the presence of Álvaro Bautista, who on Monday and Tuesday had made his debut with the factory Panigale V4R of the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team with whom he will compete in the 2019 Superbike World Championship. In this two-day MotoGP test, Álvaro is standing in for Michele Pirro on the Ducati Test Team’s Desmosedici GP, because this afternoon the Italian underwent surgery on his right shoulder, which he injured in a crash during practice at Mugello. Bautista did a total of 64 laps, the best of which was 1’38.830, and he finished the day in ninth place.


Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team #9) - 1st - 1’37.968 (53 laps)

“I’m very pleased with the way things went today, because it’s always good to finish the day in first place, but in particular I really like the feeling with the used tyre. I always felt good on the bike, like at Valencia, and for me this was important because we changed almost nothing in the set-up and in any case we always went well. Today we didn’t focus on lap times, but instead worked a lot on our pace and also tried some new components that gave us very useful information. Overall I’m really happy with the way we are working together as a team.”

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) - 2nd - 1’38.185 (53 laps)

“Today we were able to do several tests and we were very quick, even on used tyres, and so I’m pleased about that. Unfortunately at the end of the session I crashed at turn 5 while I was improving my time and I hurt my left thumb. Luckily nothing seems to be broken and if the pain is bearable tomorrow I’ll continue with our work load because we still need confirmation on some of the new components.”

Álvaro Bautista (Ducati Test Team #19) - 9th - 1’38.830 (64 laps)

“I’m very pleased to be able to help Ducati to develop the new bike and collect some important information, but it was also nice to get back on a MotoGP bike once again. It’s been two months since I raced the GP18 at Phillip Island, but today I felt good on the bike, even with the gearbox that created a few problems for me in Australia.We managed to test everything we had planned and I believe it was a positive day from all points of view. Tomorrow we’ll continue to try some new parts in view of the next season.”