The Dutch Grand Prix at the historic TT Circuit of Assen (Netherlands), eighth round of the 2019 MotoGP World Championship, saw Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci claim fourth and sixth position on the finish line respectively. Both Ducati Team riders, starting from third and fourth row, were quick off the blocks at the start and successfully climbed to the margins of the top five within just four laps, with Dovizioso leading the “peloton” in fourth position ahead of his teammate.
In the second half of the race, Dovizioso and Petrucci engaged in a thrilling battle with Mir and Morbidelli to swap positions several times. In a sprint finish, Dovizioso successfully defended fourth position under the checkered flag and Petrucci took sixth place, just five tenths of a second behind his teammate.
Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 4th
“Looking at the positives, we managed to score the best possible result for us today. After a tricky qualifying session and the start from fourth row, it would have been easy to make mistakes and get involved in risky situations in the chasing group, but we were able to quickly recover positions and take home some important points. Unfortunately, on tracks such as this one our limitations are a bit more evident and everything becomes more difficult. The gap on the finish line can’t make us happy, so we need to keep working hard to make further progress in the areas in which we struggle the most, and we’ll try to do that starting from next weekend at Sachsenring.”
Danilo Petrucci (#9 Ducati Team) – 6th
“It’s been a bit of a strange weekend, because we started off on the right foot and we were always among the frontrunners in free practice. I was feeling really confident onboard my Desmosedici GP, but the rising temperatures complicated the situation because, when the grip level goes down, we struggle more than our rivals and today it wasn’t possible to match the pace at the front. In the second half of the race Andrea and I engaged in a fun battle against other riders, but unfortunately I lost one position at the very last corner. On the bright side, I’m now third in the Championship and we’re headed to Sachsenring: I barely missed the podium there last year, and this time we’ll try to make sure we step on it.”
After eight rounds, Dovizioso holds second position in the Riders standings with 116 points while Petrucci climbs to third in the championship, just 8 points behind his teammate, with 108. Ducati is second among Manufacturers with 144 points, while the Ducati Team leads the Team rankings with 224 points.
The Ducati Team will resume action next weekend at Sachsenring (Germany) for the ninth round of the 2019 MotoGP World Championship, scheduled for July 5-7.
