The life of the tyres caused Andea Dovizioso slight concern after the Fridays free practice sessions for this weekends German MotoGP at the Sachsenring.
The Italian ended the opening day of proceedings in Germany fourth fastest and just 0.424 behind Jorge Lorenzo’s fastest time with a 1:21’309.
Despite a late lap on softer rubber, Dovizioso spent large portions of the day focusing on race pace and he was happy with the times he was able to produce on used tyres.
"I am happy, it means our race is good, like we expected yesterday," said the factory Ducati rider. "I think our bike is a bit better than last year so we are able to start with a good base."
Whilst happy with his race pace, Dovizioso highlighted tyre life with the rear Michelin’s. He said that believes that he and his team still have a lot of work to do before having his GP18 ready for Sunday’s 30-lap race with the tyres acting “strange”.
"Still with our characteristic I think what we did today I don’t think is enough," he said. "The consumption of the tyre is something strange. More than the past it looks like. So everybody have to work about this speed, but more about the lack of rear tyre. So this is what we saw today, I don’t know if it will be the reality for Sunday.
"So I’m happy the speed is there. Still I’m not happy 100% but we have to be focused of the consumption of the tyre so I think there is a lot of work to do."
