Dovizioso: Tyre consumption key to upsurge in form

Andrea Dovizioso says tyre management has been the key to his upsurge in form.

The factory Ducati rider has won two of the last three races after only one win in the first nine rounds, which he achieved at the beginning of the season in Qatar.

Dovizioso, third fastest in free practice at Motorland Aragon on Friday – 0.4 seconds behind Marc Marquez – explained he needed to use the Michelin tyres differently this year to enable him to finish races strongly.

“It's not about different tyres, it’s that you have to save the tyre more than last year. So what we did last year, this year is not enough to finish the race with a good speed,” he said.

“So we worked on that, understood the tyre consumption was different, how much tyre we used and in which condition you have to be at three-quarters of the race distance is different than last year.

“That is the difference. It's not about different tyres. It's the consumption is different. So you have to manage this in a different way and it's difficult to try to improve in that area in one race, because the laps are the same, but you have to save the tyre more and go faster,” he added.

“This is what we did and now we are a bit better. I don’t think it's enough, I would like something more, but this is where we improved. Not only there, but it was one important piece.”

Pressed on why there has been a need to change tact this season, with Michelin maintaining the tyres have remained the same, Dovizioso said this was ‘not a question for me’.

“This is a question not for me, because I can’t answer why it's different and for them [Michelin] it's the same. But it's not too important,” he said.

“It's the same for everybody and everybody has to adapt and we had to change something to try to be competitive and win the races.

“So in our opinion there is something different. But in the end it's not too important because it's the same for everybody. The only thing is you have to adapt and it takes time to be able to manage that.

“This is our opinion – that is the opinion of Michelin. But we have to manage the situation in a different way than last year. So we have our opinion.”

Reflecting on his performance on the opening day at Aragon, the Italian rider said he picked up where he left off in the test at the Spanish circuit.

“The track today was exactly the same as the test and the lap time was very similar. This is the reason why we were able to start immediately with a good speed because we didn't need to adapt to a new situation, just start in the way we finished the test.

“Now we have to start to work on some details where in the test it's very difficult for the race, to be good for the 23 laps, be fast and able to save the tyre.”

Ducati is rumoured to be using pre- and post-race tyre analysis and simulation software from MegaRide to help get the most from the Michelin's MotoGP rubber.

It is thought that the MegaRide software computes data on the thermal and frictional behaviour of the tyres, accounting for wear and degradation to help optimise set-up for each tyre compound.

At Misano, Marquez and Dovizioso’s team-mate, Jorge Lorenzo, were quickest in practice, but it was Dovi who surprised with his pace to win the race. Looking ahead to Sunday, the Ducati rider is hoping a similar situation will unfold.

“Well it was really nice what we did in Misano. It will be difficult. It looks like there, at the moment, we had a better speed than now compared to the competitors,” he said.

“But is always small things, so anything can happen and why not? We have to create this situation again.”