Ducati come into this weekend’s Misano MotoGP round with some recent test data in their pockets and Andrea Dovizioso said they made a big step forward in terms of laptimes.

Both he and team-mate Cal Crutchlow tested at the Italian track before the Silverstone round while everyone else remained at Brno but and he believes it was worth it.

“We made the test here before Silverstone and it went very well. We did a big step, the laptimes were quite fast and I am really excited for this weekend. After Silverstone, we are confident we can fight,” said Dovizioso, speaking at the track.

Cruchlow was also positive but is wary that there is a lack of grip at Misano, especially when the track is warm. He tempered that by saying that at the test, temperatures were warm but there was good grip.

“It’s really strange, you get a greasy feeling from this track. The temperature was really warm but the track had good grip. Maybe because there had been no trucks on it. We seemed to be able to keep a consistent pace for the whole day. The less grip the track has, the more problems we have with the Ducati,” added Crutchlow.