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MotoGP, Moto2 practice switch ‘interesting test’

6 June 2014

Re-arranging the order of MotoGP and Moto2 practice would be an 'interesting test'.

That is according to Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso, who says that grip levels are always different for the race, with one possible explanation being the freshly laid rubber from the Moto2 class.

Friday and Saturday sees MotoGP practice take place between Moto3 and Moto2. That allows the afternoon MotoGP sessions to be held at the same time as the race. However the Sunday schedule is Moto3, Moto2 and then MotoGP.

“This is something strange. If you ask every rider it is more or less the same. It is a little bit about the riding style and the bike you have, but everybody complains about the grip in almost every race,” said Dovizioso, speaking at last weekend's Mugello round.

“I don't know if it is the rubber left by the Dunlop tyres after the Moto3 and Moto2 races, or another reason. But always in practice you have more grip than in the race.

“It is not about the drop in tyre performance because from the first turn of the race the grip level is less. So you are not able to keep the same intensity, the same pressure on braking when you go in to the turns, because the front arrives immediately to the limit.”

Asked about re-arranging the practice order, Dovizioso replied: “It can be a really interesting test. But I don't know if they are happy to change. And of course it [the grip] is the same for everybody.

“So it is not about safety, it is just that you are in a different situation than in practice. But everybody is the same situation and everybody has to manage it.”

Moto3 and Moto2 use Dunlop tyres, with Bridgestone the exclusive supplier for the MotoGP class.