Jorge Lorenzo scored his first podium for Ducati with a third place finish in the Spanish Grand Prix which was held today at Jerez de la Frontera. The rider from Mallorca, who started from row 3 after qualifying eighth on Saturday, produced an excellent race, moving up from eighth to fourth in the first six laps. Lorenzo then passed Zarco on lap 12 and continued to increase his lead over the French rider, crossing the line with around three seconds’ advantage.
Andrea Dovizioso, who was fifth at the chequered flag, also ran a good race. The Ducati Team’s Italian rider powered away from row 5 and had moved up to sixth place by the end of lap 10. Dovizioso then began a terrific scrap with Rossi and Viñales and sealed his fifth place finish on lap 18, after which he held on to finish the race over 1.5 seconds in front of the Spanish rider.
With today’s third place for Lorenzo, the Ducati Team has reached a total of 100 podiums in MotoGP. In the overall standings, Dovizioso is now fifth with 41 points, while Lorenzo moves up to ninth with 28 points.
MotoGP will be back in action again in a couple of weeks time, at the Le Mans circuit in France from 19 to 21 May.
Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team #99) – 3rd
“A podium here at Jerez, in front of all my fans and after three complicated races, is the best present I could receive for my thirtieth birthday. It’s a result that gives me more satisfaction than many wins I scored in the past, because it was very difficult to achieve. To finish third on a Ducati at a traditionally difficult circuit for the Desmosedici is incredible! Honestly, I didn’t expect to be able to fight for the podium, and the choice of front tyre was the key. The start was a bit chaotic because of the number of riders ahead of me but I didn’t give up so easily and believed that I could recover to overtake Zarco and finish third. The last few months have been tough, but the most important thing is that I’ve always believed in myself and that the team has shown its full trust in me.”
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 5th
“A good result after not a particularly easy weekend, seeing as I was starting from way behind on the grid, something that makes things more complicated. However we were really good, and I managed to make up a lot of positions and ride in a calm way to get a good result at the flag. We worked well all weekend and yesterday I demonstrated that I had good pace, but starting from behind certainly doesn’t help and so I have to try and be more incisive in practice and qualifying. I have to congratulate Jorge because he rode really well throughout the weekend and scored a great result for himself and for Ducati.”
Luigi Dall’Igna (Ducati Corse General Manager)
“Today we did a great job: for us to score a podium here at Jerez was very important. We know we still have a lot of hard work to do, and already from tomorrow here at Jerez we’ll be testing the developments we have prepared, because the gap to the winner is still quite big and of course we want to make up this gap. Jorge did a great race, fully deserving his first podium for Ducati and Andrea was also good, moving up to fifth place: this result is very important for the morale of all of us.”
