VOLUME 57 ISSUE 8 FEBRUARY 25, 2020 P33
The Ducatis have the
power but races aren't
won on power alone.
190 mph. I have to learn so [I can
operate it] automatically."
New device or not, Ducati is
some way off where it needs to
be. Factory runners Dovizioso
and Petrucci were eighth and
12th at the close of day two. Cru-
cially that age-old turning deficit
remains, with the former saying,
"Still, the middle of the corners is
our [weak] point."
Miller topped the speed charts
on days one and two, peaking
at a pupil-dilating 218 mph. "My
thing is a ballistic missile," he
said. But it's turning deficiencies
were a crucial weakness last
year. It will be an uphill task to
consistently battle Marquez, Ya-
maha and Suzuki in such a state.
A sign of Ducati's struggles
was how close Pol Espargaro's
KTM was to the Bologna bikes.
The Austrian factory has edged
closer to the front after another
winter of tireless work. "Work-
ing for Sunday, not for Saturday"
was his motto here with his pace
a match for the group behind
the front four. "We are turning a
bit better and also the engine is
helping. The new rear tire helped
us. It keeps our bike more stable
at the end of the race. We got
more top-speed and the accel-
eration is nicer, smoother, and
I am not as tired from riding the
bike as before."
Two weeks is a long time in mo-
torsport, as Aleix Espargaro can
attest. The Catalan left Sepang
declaring Aprilia's all new 2020
RS-GP was ready for the podium.
But here, the machine was erratic
in performance (Espargaro was
fast on Saturday afternoon before
losing traction in the evening; the
opposite occurred on Sunday)
while concerns regarding its reli-
ability must have factory bosses
sweating. "It's quite normal that
we have some problems with the
new stuff coming, because every-
thing is new. The engineers need
to understand what's happening
on that bike."
Neil Morrison
