The Mission Winnow Ducati team archived the first official MotoGP tests of 2019 at Sepang (Malaysia). In the third and last session, all riders tried to set their fastest time in the morning – with cooler temperatures and, consequently, faster track conditions – and both Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Dovizioso were able to break the previous, unofficial best lap (1:58.830) posted by Jorge Lorenzo one year ago as a factory Ducati rider.

Petrucci clocked 32 laps, posting a phenomenal 1:58.239, which put him in first position. Dovizioso finished in fourth position, with a personal best of 1:58.538, 0.299 seconds behind his teammate with 36 laps to his tally. The riders also tried a new fairing with a different aerodynamic profile, giving positive feedback.

The strong performances by Pecco Bagnaia and Jack Miller, respectively second and third on Pramac Racing Team's Desmosedici GP bikes, further underscored Ducati's overall competitiveness during this test.

Danilo Petrucci (#9 Mission Winnow Ducati) – 1:58.239 (1st)

"Today we started off on the right foot: I was supposed to try two 'time attacks' but one attempt, done with a medium rear tyre, was enough. When I saw the lap time on the dashboard, I was really happy. After that, we resumed our work on some new items. Unfortunately, however, I crashed while I was trying a new fairing around midday. Given the fact that I was also experiencing some issues with blisters in my hands, we decided to stop a bit ahead of schedule to recover and make sure we're at our best in the next tests in Qatar. Overall, it's been a really positive test."

Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Mission Winnow Ducati) – 1:58.538 (4th)

"All in all, this test has been positive. It was important to push to the limit again today because we only have another test before the season starts, and we managed to post a competitive time even on a flying lap after being really consistent in yesterday's race simulation. Also, to see so many Ducati bikes at the front confirms that we have a good base. We also tried a new fairing, with positive feedback. It's still early to draw conclusions, but I'm happy with the work done here and now we'll look for more ways to improve ahead of Qatar."

The Mission Winnow Ducati team will resume action at Losail (Qatar) for the second and final pre-season MotoGP test, scheduled for February 23-25.