Lorenzo can win on Ducati race debut, says Ciabatti

The Losail circuit has traditionally been a happy hunting ground for Ducati, which took three successive wins there with Casey Stoner from 2007 to 2009.

More recently, the Borgo Panigale marque came close to victories in both 2015, when Andrea Dovizioso was edged out by a tenth of a second, and this season, as Andrea Iannone led for a portion of the race before crashing out.

With Lorenzo, also a three-time Qatar winner, jumping ship from Yamaha to Ducati for the 2017 season, Ciabatti is confident that the new partnership can get off to a winning start in March.

Asked if he felt Lorenzo could take victory in Qatar, Ciabatti told Motorsport.com: “I say, why not?

“We came close to winning [in Qatar] in both 2015 and 2016, finishing second twice with Dovizioso. Jorge goes well there, so we hope to maintain that same level of competitiveness.

“Obviously it’s quite a favourable track for us, but equally Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki have not been standing idly by, so to succeed we will have to work hard until the end.

“But starting the season at a track which, in principle, is favourable to the characteristics for our bike is surely a positive factor.”

Ciabatti also said that Ducati’s goal for 2017 – despite having only just come out of a victory drought spanning almost six years – will be to fight for the championship with Lorenzo.

“Clearly the target for next year, with a rider like Jorge, is to return to fighting for the title,” said Ciabatti.

“Of course it’s an ambitious goal, but we said that when we had a bike good enough to challenge for wins, we would try to hire a top rider.

“We did this and the target is to win as many races as possible and fight for the title, knowing that it won’t be easy because we respect the quality of our opponents.”

Interview by Matteo Nugnes