Jorge Lorenzo came home in sixth place in the German Grand Prix, which was held today at the Sachsenring circuit. The Spanish rider, who powered away from the front row after setting the third quickest time in qualifying, led the race for 12 laps but was passed by Marquez and then by Rossi, and gradually lost ground to finish the ninth round of the season in sixth place.
Seventh place went to Andrea Dovizioso, who started from the seond row. The Italian rider managed to make his way up to fifth place by the half-way point but was then passed by Bautista and Viñales and he took the chequered flag in seventh place.
Thanks to today’s results, Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo move up to fourth and sixth place in the championship standings, with 88 and 84 points respectively.
The MotoGP World Championship will be back on track again from 3rd to 5th August at the Brno circuit for the Czech Grand Prix, while all the Ducati riders will meet their fans next week at the WDW (World Ducati Week), which will be held at the Misano Adriatico circuit from 20th to 22nd July.
Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team #99) – 6th
“I made a great start again today and led the race for a number of laps, but right from the start I noticed that the track didn’t have much grip. I was leading but I realized that I was unable to shake off the riders behind me and when the rear tyre began to lose grip it was impossible to keep up the pace. Overall we made progress throughout the weekend, but we weren’t able to confirm the good job we did with a positive result. Maybe we went in the wrong direction with the setting of the bike: we focussed too much on trying to get a lot of grip at the front and we probably neglected the rear a bit, which in the end compromised our race and made it impossible to fight for the podium. Now the WDW awaits us at Misano and then, after a few days rest, we’ll concentrate on Brno where I’m convinced we’ll be back stronger than ever.”
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 7th
“It was a difficult race, but at least this time we were amongst the leading group at a circuit where, in the past, we had never obtained any good results. We had a good pace at the start of the race, but I wasn’t able to ride smoothly and so I couldn’t keep up the same pace until the end. Until half-way through the race I was lapping with the same times as the leaders, but then the rear tyre dropped off and I was no longer able to ride in a smooth way and make the bike flow through the middle of the corners. Pity, but we’ll also take stock of this experience to get a better idea of which direction to follow.”
