Petrucci: Assen qualifying "one of the worst" moments of 2019
Ducati factory rider Danilo Petrucci called MotoGP's qualifying at Assen one of his weakest moments of the season, despite having "one of the best bikes in my life" in the earlier practice.
Petrucci was below the Assen lap record, albeit beaten by Fabio Quartararo, in FP3 with a time of 1m32.580s.
But Petrucci, like all the other Ducati riders, had a difficult qualifying session, finishing as the best of the Desmosedici riders with a 1m33.282s.
Petrucci said that in the hotter conditions of the afternoon the situation got "very difficult".
"The problem today started in FP4 because I was telling the guys in the garage, this morning I arrive maybe one of the best bikes I ride in my life," he explained.
"Even I used the tyre which I crashed yesterday morning. So that tyre stay 20 minutes in a field in the cold, and I was able to ride in 1m33s. Then we put a new set of tyres, and I did the lap record at the first lap.
"This afternoon, the problem was that was around 20 degrees more on the asphalt, and this situation was one of the worst of the whole season.
"Since FP4 the situation was very very difficult. In qualifying, for sure now was like a nervous qualifying, very-very because every rider is marking one another, and it's very difficult to find a space.
"Then for sure you don't want to be followed by other riders, but then we ride almost one second slower than this morning.
"We need to understand why, because the bike is the same but the feeling on the bike was absolutely different."
Petrucci's teammate Andrea Dovizioso was only 11th in qualifying, the 2018 runner-up admitting to a mistake, and also saying that Assen doesn't suit Ducati.
"In this track where you have to change directions at high speed, it is not the best for us and every corner is very long. Is not the best for our bike," he said. "Depends how much grip is on the track, we can be a bit faster or slower.
"In qualifying we couldn't make a good laptime, I did a mistake so that is bad because is a bad position. Our pace is not too bad but for sure we can't be happy.
"In the afternoon, the laptime wasn't bad but not like the fastest. Every Ducati is not the same speed as the competitors. A bit disappointed."
Share Or Save This Story
Honda reveals 2020 World Superbike challenger
Redding: Bautista cost himself 2019 WSBK crown
Espargaro: Aprilia showed podium pace at Sepang
Petrucci extends World Superbike deal with Barni Ducati
Petrucci says WSBK harder than he imagined after first podium
Petrucci's Le Mans MotoGP return "a mission impossible"
Marc Marquez reveals ‘strategic’ thinking behind shoulder photo
Pedro Acosta reveals why Marc Marquez “should win” the 2026 MotoGP title
Why Ducati has no doubts about Marc Marquez’s future
Lance Stroll is “as quick” as Fernando Alonso – Pedro de la Rosa explains how
Ferrari "too late" to prioritise Lewis Hamilton in F1 title fight, says Jolyon Palmer
F1 Spanish GP: George Russell tops FP1 as Lewis Hamilton impedes several drivers
James Hinchcliffe warns Fred Vasseur faces "tremendous" pressure over Ferrari team orders
Pedro Acosta may not win a MotoGP race on a KTM - and that’s not a failure
Will the 2026 MotoGP title fight boil down to these three riders?
What we learned from an intriguing MotoGP Aragon GP
How MotoGP's summer break has revitalised Aprilia's factory team
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments