Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow finished the 2014 season with a good result at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Cheste (Valencia). The two Ducati Team men ran almost the entire race together, swapping places a number of times, and they took the chequered flag in the Valencian Community GP in fourth and fifth place.
The race was disturbed by a light rain that began to fall half-way through, forcing the riders to slow down to avoid any problems caused by the damp track.
Michele Pirro, entered as a wild-card on the Desmosedici GP14 of the Ducati Test Team, also scored a positive result, the Italian coming home ninth overall.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 4th
“I am very happy with this fourth place because it confirms that this weekend we worked well, as I said yesterday despite a rather disappointing qualifying session. I am satisfied with the way I administered the race, because if you start from the third row here at Valencia it’s very complicated to make up positions. It was difficult because with the rain you can never feel the limit and so it depends on how much you want to risk. I gave the maximum I could give, even though maybe I could have risked a bit more when it began to rain, but that’s OK. I want to thank all my team, because we have worked well together throughout the entire season. With Cal the battle was really nice and aggressive, but clean as always, and so I really enjoyed it. Now I feel a bit sorry that Cal is leaving our team!”
Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team #35) – 5th
“I think it’s been a fitting end to the year to finish, with Andrea and me together in fourth and fifth, we did a good job. I believe I should have pushed a little bit more in the tricky conditions created by the rain, but we could also have been strong for this result in the full dry conditions. I was pleased for the weekend, I felt my race pace was good and we made a good race with Andrea so I’m happy with the final race of the season. Obviously a big thanks to Ducati and all the guys in the team: they did a great job and it’ll be sad to leave. Good luck to them all in the future.”
Michele Pirro (Ducati Test Team #51) – 9th
“Today I’m happy because it’s never easy to finish in the top 10 in MotoGP. I’m a bit disappointed because at the start I didn’t want to make any mistakes and I rode with a bit too much caution: I am sure I could have finished higher in the results, but it was my mistake and so I have no one else to blame. A big thanks to Ducati for this opportunity they have given me: I will try again next year and I hope to make a further step forward because I believe that we all deserve it.”
Luigi Dall’Igna (Ducati Corse General Manager)
“We can now put the 2014 season behind us with a result that is in any case positive. Today both Dovizioso and Crutchlow did a great race and Michele Pirro also finished inside the top 10. Furthermore Andrea Iannone led the race for the first ten laps and this demonstrates that we have reached a good competitive level. With this Grand Prix my first year in Ducati also comes to an end. The past twelve months have been very intense and demanding, but also full of satisfaction. Together with the guys in Ducati Corse and our riders we have managed to constantly improve the performance of our bikes, scoring three podium finishes but above all succeeding in reducing the gap to the frontrunners to within the limits that we had fixed as a target. The new season gets underway already, starting tomorrow, and we will be tackling it with two Italians, Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone, safe in the knowledge that we have two of the fastest riders around in MotoGP. We fondly say goodbye to Cal Crutchlow and sincerely wish him all the best for his new adventure.”
