Ducati Team riders, Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow, finished Friday practice seventh and 14th respectively at Brno on the combined timesheets.

Ducati Test Team rider Michele Pirro, who is entered as a wild card in the Czech round, was in 11th.

In the first morning session, all the riders were able to lap on a dry track, but the arrival of rain at the start of FP2 meant that no one could improve their times in the afternoon.

Dovizioso commented,

“This morning we started off very well, and our lap times were always close to the guys at the front, even at the end of the session with the same tyres I had used throughout. We still have to improve the front of the bike, especially when exiting turns, but all things considered it was a good start. The afternoon session wasn’t very useful for working in the wet, because there wasn’t much water, but it’s always important to go out in these conditions. We might even encounter them on Sunday in the race, so in any case it was a useful session.”

Crutchlow meanwhile, added,

“Today didn’t go to plan unfortunately and in the first session we really struggled. We had some plans for the second session then the rain came so we were disappointed with the situation because tomorrow morning maybe it will be wet as well and that means we are not in the top 10. We have to assess the situation tomorrow but I was pleased with the feeling in the rain with my GP14; it was a lot better than in Assen, so I think we made some progress there. I have to find a better feeling with the dry bike and hopefully tomorrow can be a bit better for us.”

For his part, Pirro stated,

“This morning I was quite happy because, despite not riding a bike for almost two months, I had already managed to improve my time from last year by one second. It’s positive because it means that the bike has improved. Unfortunately the afternoon session was ruined by the rain. I had a few set-up problems in the wet, which I was unable to resolve before the end of the session. I hope that tomorrow the weather improves and I’ll try and get into the top 10.”




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