Just three days after the Czech Republic Grand Prix and the one-day official test at the Brno circuit, the Ducati Team has already arrived at Spielberg for the Austrian Grand Prix, the eleventh round of the 2019 MotoGP season. For a fourth successive year, the Red Bull Ring will be the venue for a MotoGP race and so far only Ducati has managed to win on this track since it returned to the championship calendar: in 2016 with Andrea Iannone, in 2017 with Andrea Dovizioso and in 2018 with Jorge Lorenzo.
Following his second place finish at Brno last weekend, Andrea Dovizioso currently also lies second in the championship standings with 147 points (63 behind leader Márquez) and he arrives in Austria determined to repeat the results of the last three editions, in which he has always been on the podium: second (2016), first (2017) and third (2018). For his part, Danilo Petrucci will be aiming to step onto the podium of the Austrian track for the first time, so as to maintain his third place in the overall Riders’ standings with 129 points, 15 ahead of Alex Rins in fourth.
As the season now heads into its second half, with another nine races still to be held, Ducati continues to hold on to second place in the Constructors’ standings with 177 points, while the Ducati Team leads the special Teams’ classification with 276 points.
Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 2nd (147 points)
“We can’t deny that the Red Bull Ring is an excellent track for us, this is clear from the results achieved there in the last few years, but as I’m always saying, each race has its own story to tell. Last year Márquez finished ahead of me, so I’m sure that this year he will again be competitive. The most important thing is to focus on ourselves and maintain the feeling we found at Brno, both during the weekend and during the test, which was very positive. We’re going to try everything we can again, and for sure we’re not going to give up.”
Danilo Petrucci (#9 Ducati Team) – 3rd (129 points)
“I can’t wait to get back on the bike again in Austria after the disappointment of Brno. It’s going to be a race in which on paper we should be able to fight for a podium place to keep our hopes alive, but I believe that the forces are pretty evenly balanced and we don’t start as favourites as in previous years. We’ll see how things are already on Friday. I had some excellent sensations during Monday’s test and I want to maintain this feeling in the next race weekend.”
The Ducati Team will get its first contact with the Red Bull Ring on Friday 9th August at 09.55 (CET) in the first free practice session.
Circuit information
Country: Austria
Name: Red Bull Ring
Best lap: Dovizioso (Ducati), 1:24.277 (184.4 km/h) – 2018
Circuit record: Iannone (Ducati), 1:23.142 (182.8 km/h) – 2016
Top speed: Bautista (Ducati), 316.5 km/h – 2017
Track length: 4.3 km
Race distance: 28 laps (120.9 km)
Corners: 10 (3 left, 7 right)
2018 Results
Podium: 1st Lorenzo (Ducati); 2nd Marquez (Honda), 3rd Dovizioso (Ducati)
Pole Position: Marquez (Honda), 1:23.241 (186.7 km/h)
Fastest lap: Dovizioso (Ducati), 1:24.277 (184.4 km/h)
Rider information
Andrea Dovizioso
Bike: Ducati Desmosedici GP
Race Number: 04
Age: 33 (born on 23 March 1986 in Forlimpopoli)
Residence: Forlì (Italy)
Races: 304 (206 x MotoGP, 49 x 250cc, 49 x 125cc)
First GP: 2008 Qatar (MotoGP), 2005 Spain (250cc), 2001 Italy (125cc)
Wins: 22 (13 x MotoGP, 4 x 250cc, 5 x 125cc)
First Win: 2009 Great Britain (MotoGP), 2006 Catalonia (250cc), 2004 South Africa (125cc)
Pole Positions: 20 (7 x MotoGP, 4 x 250cc, 9 x 125cc)
First Pole: 2010 Japan (MotoGP), 2006 France (250cc), 2003 France (125cc)
World Titles: 1 (1 x 125cc)
Danilo Petrucci
Bike: Ducati Desmosedici GP
Race Number: 9
Age: 28 (born on 24 October 1990 in Terni)
Residence: Forlì (Italy)
Races: 128 (MotoGP)
First GP: 2012 Qatar (MotoGP)
Wins: 1
First Win: 2019 Italy (MotoGP)
Pole Positions: –
World titles: –
Championship information
Riders’ standings
Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 2nd (147 points)
Danilo Petrucci (#9 Ducati Team) – 3rd (129 points)
Constructors’ standings
Ducati – 2nd (177 points)
Team standings
Ducati Team – 1st (276 points)
It’s unwise to be against Marc this season. He tries to act like he doesn’t care, but I suspect he really wants to eliminate that “no wins here” hole in his trophy case.
Hope Lorenzo and Mir recovery completely so they can both be racing at Silverstone.
Speaking of Lorenzo, it will be interesting to see how the rumors pan out.