Normally, MotoGP riders crave extra grip.

But the increased performance o🐭f the new 2020 Michelin rear tyre has robbed the Ducati riders of their abiliꦓty to slide the back of the bike into corners.

With the Desmosedici renowned for its unwillingness to turn, such slides had been an e📖ffective countermeasure.

However, the factory team of Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Dovizio༒so have now been forced to go back to the set-up drawing board to try and 'release' the rear.

"The problem is that for my riding style and for t💦he Ducati riding sty൩le it was better to slide a bit on entry of the corner, to turn the bike. But with this tyre it's really difficult to do it," explained Petrucci, left playing catch-up in Friday practice due to missing most of Wednesday's test after falling on oil.

"It's quiꦫte crazy to say, but this tyre has a lot of traction in the middle part if you look at the [profile] of the tyre. When the bike is straight the feeling is really okay, but when we are still bra💖king hard but we begin to lean the bike, we cannot slide.

"That🌳 slide helps a lot to turn the bike and especially🅰 to unload the front.

"We already knew this and we thought we solved the problem, but at the end it was not solved. So it's difficult for me to let the bike go sideways, unloading the front in that part and releasing🀅 tℱhe brake at the apex.

"For this r🔜eason it's very difficult to turn the bike. I have to keep the brakes on for a lot of time and I don't feel okay because even if I feel a lot of load on the front, the rear is pushing and I cannot release the brakes.

"We tried to solve the problem by changing the height of the bike [to create more weight transfer], and this was a g𝓡ood move but still not perfect. We need to work with the engine brake to slide a bit when I lean the bike but we still miss something."

Dovizioso - who was able to make a step forward with the tyre behaviour using his testing data from Wednesday, finishing fourth overall on theᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ Friday timesheets - ag💖reed:

"Yeah, this is one of the characteristics of this tyඣre. It has a lot of grip, the casing is soft꧋er but it’s very difficult to make the slide you want if we compare it to the previous tyre.

"We are struggling because w♋e need some slide on entry to brake in the way we want or need with our bike. We are working on that.

"I’m hapꦑpy because we did a step from Wednesday. All our work is adapting to the tyre. Like we expect at every track. It’s not because it’s better or worse, it’s different.

"In Qatar, we were struggling but we found a way. In Jerez it’s a difficult track for us and the temperature doesn’t help us. We are struggling💝 a bit in this moment but I’m really happy about the improvement we did in two days. Still I think there is a loꦇt of work to do."

While the twisty Jerez circuit has often been a tough challenge for Ducati, Petrucci pointed out he had set a new lap record ahead of qualifying last se✱ason.

"I🙈 remember so well last year in FP3 I did the lap record, then Quartararo improved on it in qualifying, but this time the tyre is really different," said the Italian, who was 21st a𒐪nd then 13th in Friday's pair of track sessions.

Meanwh♊i༺le, needing to use even more physical effort to turn the Ducati is certainly not ideal given the withering Jerez heat.

"It's really tough to ride this bike in this heꦕat," Petrucci admitted. "We need a lot of effort, a lot of strength to ride this bike. After 2-3 laps the situation became very difficult.

"The heat is u꧒nbelievable. More-or-less it’s like Malaysia or Thailand, but here when you follow other riders you feel like there is a hairdryer in your face. It's unbelievable. I don't remember something like that.

"I think it will be onꦕe of the most diff♍icult races of my life."