Dovizioso plays down fastest lap

Andrea Dovizioso played down his fastest Friday time on the new Ducati GP14.2 at Aragon.

The evolution bike - which features a narrower riding position, allowing greater movement, plus more set-up options - led both practice sessions courtesy of Pramac's Andrea Iannone and then Factory star Dovizioso.

Dovizioso, who used the standard GP14 in the morning, went on to finish the day 0.043s ahead of Honda's world champion Marc Marquez.

"It's positive because [the GP14.2] is more comfortable in terms of the seat position and footrests, but the limit of the bike is the same," explained Dovizioso, who set his best time on the soft rear tyre.

"So today we confirmed the speed we have shown in the last three races, but we have to improve when the tyre drops and after three laps at Aragon the drop of the rear is very high... We are very far from Marquez's race pace."

Dovizioso and future team-mate Iannone, fastest in the moring and then fourth in FP2, are the only riders with a GP14.2 available this weekend.

"Today was a positive day for us," said Iannone. "This morning during the first free practice session, I initially used the GP14 and then the GP14.2 finishing the round in first place.

"In the afternoon I continued the comparison between the two bikes putting down similar lap times with both. For now I am better on the new evolution because it has more room to move more freely in the seat.

"I have to analyze braking with my team because with the new bike I have to use more force on the brake lever compared to the GP 14. Tomorrow we will do some tests to see what causes this situation. "

Dovizioso's current team-mate Cal Crutchlow, moving to LCR Honda next year, was eleventh fastest after bike issues in FP1.

"Today was more positive than the other race weekends," said Crutchlow. "We had some problems in the first session so I never got enough laps in time on the bike. We worked hard in the second free practice, and in the session I felt quite comfortable and my pace was not so bad.

"Unfortunately in my fast lap I got held up by a slower rider waiting for a follow. We will change the engine tonight and hopefully it will help us to improve tomorrow."