After leaving Austin (United States) with the lead in the Riders, Constructors and Team rankings, the Mission Winnow Ducati team is ready to begin the long, intense European phase of the calendar, with eleven races in the Old Continent, the first of which will be held at Jerez de la Frontera (Spain).

Historically, Ducati has achieved a win and five podiums overall on the Spanish track, but both Andrea Dovizioso – who will ride his 200th MotoGP race on Sunday – and Danilo Petrucci – who missed the podium at Jerez by only four tenths of a second last year – are determined to make the most of the feedback gathered during the winter tests and the first races of 2019 to rewrite the statistics. After three rounds, Ducati leads the Constructors rankings with 57 points, and the Mission Winnow Ducati team is first in the Team rankings with 84 points.

Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Mission Winnow Ducati) – 1st (54 points)

"We arrive at Jerez in the lead but, more than for the championship position itself, I'm happy first and foremost for the feeling with the bike so far this year. Our competitiviness has further increased and we managed to defend ourselves even on historically difficult tracks, but it's also true that there are even more riders capable of fighting for the podium and the season has just started. I believe that in Jerez we'll be able to be stronger than in the past, last year during the race we had already shown progress, but we need to keep our head down and work hard to make more improvements and to be contenders on every single track."

Danilo Petrucci (#9 Mission Winnow Ducati) – 5th (30 points)

"The Jerez track, on paper, is more suited to my riding style compared with the first three circuits we've raced at so far. During the winter tests I was fast there, even though track conditions will probably be very different this weekend. Also, I was able to fight for the podium until basically the very end of the race last year, so overall I'm confident. So far we've collected important points and stayed in the top 5 in the Championship, but obviously I want to be stronger in race conditions. This break was helpful to recharge and pinpoint some small items to improve over the weekend. We're working on details that can make a big difference, so I can't wait to head out to the track."

The Mission Winnow Ducati team will resume action Friday, May 3, for the first free-practice session, which is scheduled to start at 09:55.