Andrea Dovizioso was surprised by the Ducati's power delivery after his first few laps at Valencia's MotoGP test yesterday as he was expecting to have to control an animal.
The Italian, who replaces compatriot Valentino Rossi, said he was pleased with the first test and got a good feeling from the Demsosedici but tempered that by saying it may be a different ballgame in the dry.
"The first feeling is really good, the laptime is coming so I am happy. It just confirm the Ducati work in the wet but these laptimes are not something special, it's just a feeling we start very well. The important part is to try in the dry," said Dovizioso, speaking to bikesportnews.com.
"At the start, I was a little bit scared to have an aggressive engine, an animal, but it was better than I expect so I was happy after the first exit."
Dovizioso noted the GP12 had far better corner exit grip than the Yamaha he raced last year but added that, in the rain, there were some areas that it wasn't as planted as the YZR-M1.
"I made a few races in the wet with Valentino, so I can see he had more traction than me and I can confirm the traction is better than the Yamaha but in some place the feeling is worse. When you don't put the bike on the limit, you have many question marks but it is really too early to speak about that."