The 2014 season opening Grand Prix at the Losail Circuit in Qatar will be a special occasion for Ducati debutant Cal Crutchlow, whilst his teammate Andrea Dovizioso also starts the season in good spirits.

For Englishman Crutchlow who in 2013 finished fifth in the World Championship, in the last of three seasons on Yamaha machinery, the upcoming campaign is an exciting challenge as races his new Italian employees on their evolving GP14 package.

After winter testing in Malaysia and Australia and the presentation of the Ducati Team in Germany last week, the serious business now commences for Crutchlow and Dovizioso as racing commences in Qatar.

“I’m starting my fourth season in MotoGP and my first as a Ducati factory rider, so I’m really looking forward to getting on the bike and beginning this new chapter,” states Crutchlow.

“I think Qatar is going to be quite good for us. The team have been working fantastically hard, and I think we’ve progressed a lot since I first got on the bike in November, I think we will be at a little disadvantage because we never tested there, but we will still be at 100%.” he asserts.


Dovizioso and Crutchlow are reunited in the Ducati box having previously been teammates at Tech 3. The Italian previewed round one commenting, “I am very satisfied with how the winter tests went, because we managed to improve more than we expected. Now the GP14 is easier to handle and by making a few changes to the bike, we managed to set some interesting times.”

“The Losail circuit is very strange, because of the wind that often blows sand onto the track, and in addition it’s a night race. I’m sure I can be quick over one lap, especially because last year I managed to go well in qualifying. Maybe the race will be a bit more difficult than practice, but I think we can be quite competitive at Losail. For sure we have reduced the gap to the others we had last year.”




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