The Spanish Grand Prix at the Jerez de la Frontera track failed to produce much satisfaction for the two Ducati Team riders today. Andrea Iannone finished the fourth round of the season in seventh place, while team-mate Andrea Dovizioso had to retire on lap 10.
At the start Iannone was not able to get away well and he crossed the line at the end of lap 1 in fourteenth place. Despite having very little feeling with the front tyre, the Italian embarked on a recovery that took him to seventh place by lap 22 and he finished the race in that position.
It was another luckless day for Dovizioso, who started from row 2 thanks to the fourth quickest time he set in qualifying yesterday. The Italian completed the first five laps in fifth position but was passed by Viñales and then slowed by a problem with his Desmosedici GP’s water pump on lap 10, which forced him to retire.
Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team #29) – 7th
“I didn’t expect such a difficult weekend, and right from the start of practice I did my best to do a quick fix on the situation. In the race I started some way down the grid and this penalized me, especially because I didn’t make a good start and the feeling with the bike in the early laps was not at its best. It’s a pity because then I managed to improve lap after lap, making up a lot of positions, and in the end my pace wasn’t bad. A seventh place is for sure not our target, but we took home some important points for the championship”.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team # 04) – DNF
“It was a pity because another no-points score in the championship was the last thing I needed. We had a problem with the water pump: some water came out and finished on the rear wheel and I almost crashed three times so had to retire. If however we try and look at the positives, we are working well, my feeling with the bike is good and this is the most important thing for me, even though it’s true that here at Jerez we never managed to be as competitive as in the first three GPs. On a personal level it’s important for me to be sure that I haven’t made any errors in the last three races, and this gives me the confidence to try and be competitive again immediately, starting from Le Mans”.
