Andrea Dovizioso scored a fantastic win in today’s Italian GP, held at the Mugello circuit in Tuscany in front of a record crowd of 98,269 spectators. The Italian, who started from the front row after qualifying third, crossed the line at the end of lap 1 in fourth and then fought it out with Lorenzo and Rossi in the early stages, before moving up to second behind Viñales on lap 6. Dovizioso then took control at the front and maintained the lead of the race until the flag, holding off attacks from Viñales and Petrucci, who were second and third at the finish.
Jorge Lorenzo, who got a great start from row 3, was in the lead of the race for part of the opening lap, but then began to lose touch with the leading group and in the end he had to settle for eighth, ahead of Michele Pirro, who finished ninth after starting from row 2.
In the standings, Dovizioso has moved up into second place with 79 points, 26 behind leader Viñales, while Lorenzo has gained one place and is now seventh with 46 points.
Today’s triumph takes Ducati up to a total of 34 wins in MotoGP.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1st
“It was a fantastic day for me but it had started badly after a sleepless night because I had a bit of food poisoning. Today I didn’t have much energy, but I knew that the bike was going to be strong, because we had worked well throughout the weekend and I also had a lot of support from my fans, physiotherapist and family and this made a big difference. Despite the fact that I wasn’t at 100%, I was able to administer the race even though I wasn’t the quickest man out there, but I did a perfect strategy, and I moved into the right position at the right moment. I rode really smoothly, I never forced the pace excessively and this made all the difference because Mugello is a track that physically wears you out and in any case the tyres did not allow me to push too hard. Finally we did it: winning at Mugello is really something special!”
Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team #99) – 8th
“Obviously I can’t be satisfied with my race today. Even though I got off to a good start and I led a race for the first time this year, unfortunately lap after lap my pace started to slow. I continue to lose time under braking and for the moment I can’t get the best out of the bike’s assets, but above all I can’t be fast through the corner, which is one of my strong points, and today I was passed several times on the inside without being able to react. The positive thing about the race is that Andrea won and Danilo came third, demonstrating that today the Ducati was the best bike on the track. Back on Friday I said that the bike was good enough to win and I’m happy for Dovizioso because he deserved it.”
Michele Pirro (Ducati Test Team #51) – 9th
“Unfortunately I ruined my good performance in practice and qualifying with a pretty bad start, and ending up thirteenth at the first corner from fourth on the grid certainly didn’t help matters much. From then on I tried to make my own pace, but we all had more or less the same speed and the battling between us did not allow me to make up many positions. In the end I finished the race just behind Jorge and that’s not bad, but above all I’m pleased because we worked well and we were consistently fast throughout the weekend.”
Claudio Domenicali (CEO of Ducati Motor Holding)
“Today’s win is a magnificent result that is just reward for all the hard work and sacrifices that everyone in Ducati Corse have done over the last few months and so I want to dedicate this splendid victory to them. At Mugello we saw two Ducati bikes and two Italian riders on the podium, with Andrea on the top step, in a fantastic race with no real retirements, and in the end the best man and bike won. Today we had an extraordinary bike and Dovizioso scored an exceptional result. This is the result of great team-work, and I think all Italians will be proud of it.”
