Andrea Dovizioso today ran an almost perfect race on the Dutch TT circuit at Assen, where the eighth round of the 2014 MotoGP World Championship was held. With an intelligent strategy, the Ducati Team rider perfectly interpreted the difficult weather conditions to take home a well-deserved second place, behind winner Marquez. With this result, the second podium of the season after a third at Austin, Dovizioso moves up one place in the world championship and is now fourth on 91 points.
Starting well from seventh place on the grid on rain tyres for the early laps in the wet, Dovizioso found himself second behind Marquez and did not even relinquish the position during the pit-stop on lap 6 to change bikes when the track started to dry. Andrea actually took the lead on lap 8 and stayed there until lap 15, when he was overtaken by the championship leader, and he finished the race in second place, with a comfortable advantage over third-placed Pedrosa.
Team-mate Cal Crutchlow did not have an easy race. Starting from fifth on the grid after a good qualifying session yesterday, Cal was able to make it into sixth position by the mid-point, but then started to lose ground and he concluded the Dutch GP in ninth place.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 2nd
“The conditions today were very difficult but we managed to get a good start with the right choice of tyres and a perfect race strategy. I had a good feeling with the bike right away, there wasn’t much water but the grip was good, you just had to understand which corners were wet and which were dry. Both Marc and I were able to interpret the track quicker than the others and we pulled out a good gap straight away. I followed him for the early laps, this was my strategy, then I managed to pass him when he made a mistake but his pace was quicker than mine. This second podium of 2014 is very important for us: we are all working so hard and I really want to thank my team!”
Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team #35) – 9th
“It was a really tough race today for everyone because of the weather conditions. As far as I was concerned it was a disappointing result because I felt we should have taken more advantage of the conditions as soon as the track dried, but I had the same problems as I had in every practice. We had too much understeer with the bike and I was not competitive enough. A good job by Andrea, today he got a fantastic result for the team.”
Luigi Dall’Igna (Ducati Corse General Manager)
“Obviously today we are very satisfied with Dovi’s second place! We knew that our Desmosedici could perform particularly well in the wet but the conditions in this race were really difficult: the team ran an excellent strategy and Andrea was able to keep up a good pace in the rain and then maintain a high rhythm even when the track dried out. He also managed to lead for eight laps, and then when Marquez passed him, he continued to lap well to defend his position. It is a result that fills us with satisfaction and gives us confidence for the future.”
