Dovizioso questions team vote on British GP postponement

Andrea Dovizioso has questioned Dorna’s decision to allow MotoGP teams to vote on the postponement of the British Grand Prix, as he feels manufacturers may place their own interests ahead of the running of a race.

The Italian, who topped both of Friday’s free practice sessions at Misano, stated it was “really good” and “nice” that Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta put the decision to hold the three grand prix 24 hours after the scheduled race times to the teams.

However, Dovizioso believes the final decision should have been his while hinting certain manufacturers acted in their own interest. “If you have an advantage, you can say yes, and if you don't have an advantage, you say no,” he said.

“I'm completely open to race on Monday or not. It's not my decision, I don't care, so for me it's OK. What I tried to explain what happened in Silverstone, I didn't like the vote, there was a vote among the teams to race on Monday or not.

“And I don't think it's fair, because in any race, if you give to the team the possibility to decide, if you have an advantage, you can say yes, and if you don't have an advantage, you say no. And I don't think it's normal. I think the organisation has to decide.

“I think it's really good and nice that [Carlos] Ezpeleta [Dorna CEO] asks the teams what they think. This is a really good relationship, and I like that. But I don't think it's good to give them the possibility to decide.

“For example, in Silverstone, maybe we have an advantage and we didn't race, in the future maybe we will have an advantage and we will race. So I don't think it's fair like that. And we will speak in the Safety Commission.

“Fortunately our relationship is good, and we can speak openly, in an open way about that. But I think it's OK, it's a decision for the future.”

These comments came soon after Ezpeleta confirmed to Spanish broadcaster Movistar TV that “It is important that everyone knows that if you can not run on Sunday, we will do it anyway, on Monday or Tuesday."

Ducati was open in stating it was in favour of racing on the Monday after the British Grand Prix, while it is believed the Japanese factories – Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki – voted against the idea.

Turning his attention to Friday’s action, Dovizioso was unwilling to draw any definitive conclusions as he found the afternoon’s conditions to be “very strange” with the tyres reacting in an unexpected way.

His speed, as witnessed toward the end of both sessions, was not in doubt, however. “I think that when five riders can fight for the victory, anything can happen, so it can be positive or negative. I think it's impossible at the moment to understand the pace for the race, because today it was very strange to ride in this conditions. The tyres were very strange - completely different to the test.

“At the beginning of the practice in the afternoon, we used a used tyre from the morning, with six laps on, and we destroyed the tire in three laps. Normally this never happens with Michelin. You can have a drop, but the wear normally is good. So I think the conditions were strange. I hope and I think tomorrow will be different.

“So today I don't think is the reality about everything. About the speed at the end of the practice, yes, and we confirmed our good speed, but I didn't have a question mark about that. I'm happy about that, also because this afternoon I didn't have a good feeling, and I did a really fast lap.

“But it's not enough what we have, because I think Marc [Marquez] has a really good pace, this morning Maverick [Viñales] was very strong, in the afternoon not, but conditions were very strange. Jorge [Lorenzo] was very fast.

“But I think we have to wait for the conditions tomorrow and especially on Sunday, because today it affected the practice a lot. Let's see tomorrow.”