Yet again another rider’s mistake costs
Andrea Dovizioso an almost certain podium finish. Andrea Dovizioso is quickly becoming the unluckiest man in the MotoGP™ World Championship, the Ducati Team rider having been taken out by other riders in the last two races. In both Argentina and America ‘Desmo Dovi’ looked almost certain to finish on the podium. After an excellent start Dovizioso was comfortable is second place until Jorge Lorenzo
(Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) passed him on lap five. But the
Ducati Team rider stuck with him and was defending his potential third place with ease until Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) lost the front at Turn 1. Pedrosa would collide with Dovizioso, ending his race. It was clear the incident was an accident, Pedrosa immediately apologising and checking on the Italian.
Once more
Dovizioso focused on taking positives rather than lamenting the negative. In all three races he has shown the pace to battle for the podium and has escaped any serious injury. He was also able to improve his pace dramatically on race day after having struggled somewhat during practice. All Dovizioso needs is some luck, once that comes it’s clear to see he’ll be back on the podium once again. With 23 points, Dovizioso holds seventh in the standings and is still seven points clear of his teammate Andrea Iannone.
Andrea Dovizioso: “I am really very disappointed because once again today I was unable to finish my race following a mistake by another rider, and losing two possible podiums out of three is the hardest thing to accept in view of the championship. However I also want to look at the positive aspects: I didn’t hurt myself and given the way the incident happened it could have been a lot worse. In addition, in three different races, in very difficult situations to manage for the tyres, we have always been able to fight for the podium. Today we could have been second in the championship just a few points behind Marquez, so from this point of view I am very pleased with the work that we are doing. Even when we are not so fast in practice, in the race we always manage to be competitive: this is the way a factory rider has to race when he is thinking about the championship.”