Francesco Bagnaia believes the 10th place finish in MotoGP practice at Cota Masked on Friday has seen a significant advance.
The Italian began the day in sixth place on an immersion morning outing, then stuck to the final top ten for direct qualifying 2 access in the dry afternoon session.
With five other Ducatis filling in the top five, there were no signs of obvious progress from riders who haven’t yet surpassed factory teammate Marc Marquez in this year’s session.
However, Bagnaia remained optimistic.
“I remember my first feeling on my bike on Friday,” he said.
“I was very happy when I got wet, and I usually need more time to be competitive and I felt good from the first lap.
“Then I made the wrong decision to go to the soft front this afternoon because the entire session was good.
“I know we’re always struggling to get that tire to work. Other Ducati riders are better than that and I know that that’s one of my weaknesses.
“But apart from that, I’m happy.
“The sense of brakes, the feeling of the corner entrance has improved, which was what we were looking for.
“We try to solve problems with each session, and I think I’m getting closer to my best sense.
“Now on this track, I feel much better than Thailand, so I have to keep going like this.”
Bagnaia added that he had maintained “many margins” in tricky terms and didn’t want to go back to last year’s GP24 package, despite being beaten by satellite riders Alex Marquez and Franco Morbidelli.
“My English isn’t that good, but what I wanted to explain was that I wanted to go back to the feeling of a GP24. I wouldn’t go back to the GP24 properly,” he said.
“It’s also clear that the new bike has better potential, and Mark shows that. So I don’t need to come back. I just want to have the same feeling as last year’s bike.
“But on this track I feel much better, so I’m already happy.”
The Double World Champion will begin Saturday’s sprint race, with third place in the rankings, 15 points to Alex Marquez and 31 points from the mark.