MotoGP Factory Ducati man Andrea Dovizioso has said that he is happy with the base setting on his Ducati GP19 after finishing the opening day of free practice fastest overall in Argentina.

The factory Ducati side have typically struggled in Termas de Rio Hondo with the Italian only securing one podium in South America – a second place back in 2015. The dirty track combined with colder temperatures has usually caused the Italian factory issues.

This year however, it appears Ducati have come to Argentina much more ready to compete, with the Italian topping the opening day of the weekend with a 1:39.181, less than a hundredth of a second ahead of Ducati stable-mate Jack Miller.

“Last year and the year before we struggled a lot,” said Dovizioso. “I struggled a lot in this track.

But our base is better than last year, I am really happy about that. Our bike is a bit different compared to last year.

“I’m happy to confirm that, happy to have a good feeling from the beginning, and already this morning I felt really good. I was able to be consistent when the tyre dropped, that’s the main thing.

“At the end we put a new tyre, like everybody except for Marc in the second practice, and I did a good lap time, that was important.”