Andrea Dovizioso finished the San Marino Grand Prix, held today at the Misano World Circuit, in sixth place. The Ducati Team rider, who passed Pol Espargarò on lap 9, then caught Rossi and Morbidelli in a battle for fourth place, but he was unable to pass his two fellow Italians and finished his race in sixth place.
Danilo Petrucci, who started from the sixth row, was able to make his way up to eleventh place on lap 16 and he then gained one more place after Pirro’s crash, finishing the race in tenth.
After overtaking Petrucci in the early stages, Michele Pirro moved up to tenth place, but then crashed on lap 21 and had to retire.
Andrea Dovizioso remains second in the Riders’ standings, 93 points behind leader Marquez, while Danilo Petrucci moves back into third place, with a two-point lead over Rins in fourth.
Ducati remains second in the Constructors’ classification and the Ducati Team first in the Teams’ standings.
Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 6th
“It was a difficult race, as we had expected. We all suffered because of the very little grip, especially at the front, and it was really difficult to push hard. Pity about the sixth place, because when I managed to catch Rossi and Morbidelli, who were fighting for fourth, there weren’t the right conditions to try and attack without making mistakes. However, I’m pleased with the work we’ve done this weekend, because on Friday our gap was a really big one and we managed to improve the situation for the race a lot.”
Danilo Petrucci (#9 Ducati Team) – 10th
“For sure it was a very hard race for me. Yesterday my qualifying was very difficult and so today I had a lot of positions to make up. I really did my maximum today, but unfortunately the lack of grip didn’t allow me to be very quick. In the end I managed to finish in tenth place and the only positive aspect of the weekend is that I’m back in third place in the overall standings ahead of Rins.”
Michele Pirro (#51 Ducati Test Team) – DNF
“After the start, I suffered a bit in the first few corners, and then tried to recover and I passed Danilo because I was a bit faster than he was. I was trying to keep the pace of the other riders, but six laps before the end I lost the front at Turn 14. It was just a banal little crash, which caused virtually no damage to the bike, but in the incident I felt the pain in my leg, which I injured while training with a motocross bike, flare up again and I had to stop. I feel bad about it because once again I could have finished inside the top 10, like at Mugello.”
The MotoGP teams and riders will now move to Spain for the Aragón Grand Prix, scheduled to take place next weekend at the MotorLand Aragón circuit on the outskirts of Alcañiz.
