The second day on the circuit of Donington Park and heavy rain in the morning led to a wet practice session, which showed how Andrea could ride in the rain. Always staying in the upper part of the classification, Andrea ended in first position making a virtual front row packed with Honda machinery. In the afternoon the JiR Team Scot rider in the qualifying session for the British Grand Prix ended with the sixth fastest time – his best qualifying this season – thanks to this he will start on the second row of the grid.
Gianluca Montiron – Team Director JiR Team Scot“The changing conditions of the weather completely changed the characteristics of the track. Obviously this made the choice of the tyres extremely important and we can say that these were difficult conditions and that the team had to react very fast to make this very positive result. It’s the best qualifying of the year so far for us, which is good. Everybody in the top positions was trying hard, but no-one in those conditions had a perfect lap. The strategy for the races tomorrow will really depend on exactly what weather conditions we experience for the race itself.”
Andrea Dovizioso – Rider JiR Team Scot MotoGPHONDA RC212V – 6th: 1’39”783“The heavy rain in the morning made for a spectacular session that myself and the team used at the maximum in case of a wet race tomorrow. If it’s going to be wet we are in good shape for a very good race. In the afternoon the rain finally stopped and the grip conditions totally changed and we came to damp asphalt conditions. We had some difficulty finding the proper tyre for most part of the whole afternoon session, which is why at the start we weren’t up at the top, but then close to the end of the qualifying session I was in the condition to jump up to sixth place, grabbing the final position on the second row. In dry conditions I don’t think we have the pace of the leaders but it will be crucial to get a good start and handle the race from there.”
Gianni Berti – Technical Co-ordinator JiR Team Scot“The qualifying session was held under difficult grip conditions. It was very difficult to understand, as when the rain stopped the surface was very slippery and it was drying very slowly and only in some areas of the track was it drying out. To achieve sixth place is very important, as it’s a good grid position here for us, and our best so far this year. We tried a lot of tyres today, and we did this to put Andrea in the best condition for the race – wet or dry. The weather forecast is mixed for tomorrow so we will see in warm-up what we can do and then look to the race.”
