After completing the first of three August races on the calendar at Indianapolis, the Ducati Team has now returned to Europe, and the Czech Republic, for the 11th round of the MotoGP™ World Championship this weekend at the Automotodrom Brno.

Both Ducati Team men have been on the podium once in the premier class in the Czech race - Andrea Dovizioso finished runner-up in 2011, and his team-mate Cal Crutchlow third in 2012. Last year Crutchlow also set his second-ever MotoGP pole position at the circuit.

For the fifth time this season, the Brno race will see the participation of Michele Pirro, who will be out on track again with the Ducati Test Team’s GP14.

Dovizioso commented,

“Brno is a nice, difficult track and totally different from Indianapolis. I like its up-and-down layout, even though it’s not one of my favorite circuits. The track itself has got a lot of straights, and my Desmosedici GP14 is certainly not lacking in power after the debut of the new engine at Indianapolis, so I’m feeling confident that we can again be closer to the others, like we were at Indy.”

Crutchlow, meanwhile, added,

“I’m looking forward to going back to Brno, which is one of my favourite circuits, and I’ll be aiming to get a good result there. The track seems more suitable for the Ducati, because there are a lot of hard acceleration areas where I think we can gain some time, and the GP14 is also strong in the braking zone, even though we still need to still improve the cornering. My guys are working very hard for me and I look forward to working with them again in Brno.”

Test rider Pirro stated,

“I am very happy to return to the track to take part in a Grand Prix race. I have been training hard and I hope to be able to help the engineers to gather data on this track, but at the same time I want to try and get as close as possible to the factory riders. The Brno circuit is not one of my favourites, but I am convinced that in any case I can get a good result.”



.