Andrea Iannone returned to the podium today at Mugello with a third place finish in an exciting Italian GP. After a difficult start, the rider from Vasto crossed the line on the opening lap in eighth place and dropped to eleventh place next time around. He then began a splendid recovery that allowed him to overtake Pedrosa for fourth place on lap 10. Iannone then caught up with his team-mate and the two factory Ducati riders put on an exciting scrap for third. Iannone managed to pass Dovizioso on lap 17 and he held on to third place until the chequered flag, setting the fastest lap of the race on the 23rd and penultimate lap. Today Iannone also set an outright top speed record for MotoGP – reaching 354.9 km/h with his Ducati Desmosedici GP on the long Mugello straight.
After getting off to an excellent start from row 5, Andrea Dovizioso finished the opening lap in fifth place and passed Aleix Espargarò for fourth on lap 5. The Romagna-born rider then closed up to the leading trio and, after Rossi’s retirement, moved into third place. After eight laps however he had to give up the position, first to his team-mate and then Pedrosa, and he finished the race with a good fifth place.
Michele Pirro, entered as a wild-card with the Desmosedici GP of the Ducati Test Team, concluded his race in tenth place.
Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team #51) – 3rd
“I am very happy because I made a great recovery and I had a better pace than all the other riders on the track, but unfortunately I couldn’t get a good start. I’m disappointed about that because if I had been closer to the leaders I think I could maybe have been able to fight for the win. When I caught Dovizioso we passed each other a couple of times and we lost a bit of time: after passing him however I no longer had any chance of catching the two up front. I was quick throughout the weekend and this means that I have improved a lot as a rider and that the bike is competitive. In two weeks’ time at Barcelona we will try and do even better.”
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team # 04) – 5th
“The weekend finished with a good fifth place and that’s positive, especially since I haven’t seen the chequered flag for quite a few races. Starting so far behind could have penalized me, but I was able to get off the line well and immediately reach the leading group. We had worked well on race pace and so I was quite quick, but I was unable to be smooth and half-way through the race I had a problem with arm pump in my right arm and lost a lot of my strength. This problem forced me to drop my pace, but above all it caused me to make a few errors including one at San Donato, which prevented me from remaining in the battle for the podium in the last few laps. I’m disappointed for the team because despite it being a difficult weekend, we managed to find a very good race pace. A podium would have been a good reward but unfortunately this time we couldn’t make it, so we’ll have to continue working to do better from the next round onwards.”
Michele Pirro (Ducati Team #51) – 10th
“I have to be happy because I achieved my aim of finishing approximately twenty seconds from the winner. I could probably have done better, but half-way through the race I began to feel a vibration in the rear tyre, and in the last two laps this led me to reduce my pace. In any case it was a positive race because we took home some useful information on several new parts we are testing. I want to thank Ducati, the Test Team and all the guys working back in the factory, because we did a good job here and it’s always an emotional feeling to race at Mugello on a Ducati”.
Luigi Dall’Igna (Ducati Corse General Manager)
“Even though we got back onto the podium, I can’t say I am totally satisfied with today’s result here at Mugello, because in my opinion it could have been a good opportunity to win a race. In any case we took home a good third place for Iannone and a fifth for Dovizioso, we surely provided some spectacular action for the Mugello crowd and we obtained the fastest lap in the race and also the top speed record, which demonstrate that our Desmosedici GP is a competitive bike.”
