Less than two weeks after the Grand Prix of Catalunya – where Danilo Petrucci took third position on the finish line while Andrea Dovizioso was involved in a crash that forced him to retire – the Ducati Team is ready to resume action at Assen (Netherlands) for the eighth round of the 2019 MotoGP World Championship. On the track also known as “The Cathedral”, which has been hosting the World Championship ever since its first season in 1949, the factory riders conquered a podium apiece with Ducati: Dovizioso finished second in 2014, Petrucci in 2017.
Going into round eight, Dovizioso is second in the Riders standings, 37 points shy of the lead, while Petrucci is fourth, just five points behind his teammate. Both Dovizioso and Petrucci are keen to make the most of the technical upgrades tested after the race at Montmeló to score as many points as possible and cut the gap in the rankings. Ducati is second among Manufacturers with 131 points, while the Ducati Team leads the Team standings with 201 points.
Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 2nd (103 points)
“There’s no time to linger on the points lost at Barcelona, we need to tackle each race working as hard as we’ve done until now. I believe we are showing great competitiveness and, even though there are always areas to improve, we have proven our speed. Assen isn’t the most favorable track for our bike and weather conditions always play a fundamental role there, but at any rate we’ve shown we’re capable of progressively improving during the course of a weekend even on tricky circuits. We need to stay calm and focused, taking it one race at a time. The Championship has still a long way to go.”
Danilo Petrucci (#9 Ducati Team) – 4th (98 points)
“I’ve always had good sensations at Assen, it’s one of my favourite circuits despite the fact that on paper it’s not the easiest for us. We’ve been on a positive streak in the last few races, so first of all I want to be competitive and fight for the podium once again. Also, last year I had a quite difficult weekend at Assen, so I’ll have an extra motivation going into this round. Weather will be a question mark, and even though my riding style and the characteristics of the Desmosedici GP could represent an advantage in wet conditions, I hope we’ll have a dry race. We have another chance to score a good result.”
The Ducati Team will resume action Friday, June 28th, at 09:55 (CET) for the first free-practice session while the race is scheduled for Sunday at 14:00.
Circuit information
Country: Netherlands
Name: TT Circuit Assen
Best lap: Rossi (Yamaha), 1:32.627 (176.5 km/h) – 2015
Circuit record: Marquez (Honda), 1:33.617 (174.6 km/h) – 2015
Top speed: Iannone (Ducati), 319.8 km/h – 2015
Track length: 4.555 km
Race distance: 26 laps (118.1 km)
Corners: 18 (6 left, 12 right)
2018 results
Podium: 1st Marquez (Honda); 2nd Rins (Suzuki), 3rd Viñales (Yamaha)
Pole Position: Marquez (Honda), 1:32.791 (176.2 km/h)
Fastest lap: Viñales (Yamaha), 1:34.113 (173.7 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: 301 (203 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 (Italia)
Races: 125 (MotoGP)
First GP: 2012 Qatar (MotoGP)
Wins: 1
First Win: 2019 Italy (MotoGP)
Pole positions: –
World titles: –
Championship information
Riders standings
Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Mission Winnow Ducati) – 2nd (103 points)
Danilo Petrucci (#9 Mission Winnow Ducati) – 4th (98 points)
Manufacturer standings
Ducati – 2nd (131 points)
Team standings
Mission Winnow Ducati – 1st (201 points)
