After two ‘flyaway’ events in Qatar and the United States, MotoGP™ now returns to Europe for the Spanish Grand Prix. At Ducati Team, both Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden are staying realistic ahead of Round 3.

Last season at Jerez, Dovizioso finished in the top five for Monster Yamaha Tech 3, whereas Hayden’s Ducati was eighth in the race off the back what would be his only front row start of the campaign.

“The Jerez circuit isn’t among my favourites, but anyway, I think that the best approach at this point of the season is to take it race by race - and that’s the attitude we have as we head to Spain,” the Italian begins.

“The Desmosedici GP13 is completely different from the bikes I’ve ridden in the past, which is fine for me, but we can only make the difference when we’re able to improve some characteristics of the bike.”


Hayden sees Jerez as a spot of familiarity in the overall MotoGP™ routine, although he too expects a rather ordinary weekend.

“This race is almost like the start of the ‘normal’ season - day races in Europe - but of course that doesn’t mean I expect things to get any easier,” comments the 2006 World Champion. “We did get to test at Jerez (pre-season) and, although the weather didn’t allow us to get many laps in, that experience will still be helpful.

“Hopefully we’ll start out better on Friday and put up a better fight through the weekend than I did in Texas. I’ve got plenty of support from the guys, so that’s definitely not an issue. I look forward to going to Spain and doing our best.”

Opening practice begins at 9:55am local time (GMT +2) on Friday.

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