Andrea Dovizioso, who started from the third row, finished second at the Italian GP. The Italian crossed the line at the end of the opening lap in fifth place and then got close to Lorenzo on lap 7, but he was unable to attack his team-mate and on the last lap had to defend the runner-up slot from Rossi, who was third at the chequered flag.
Thanks to this result, Dovizioso has moved up into fourth place in the standings with 66 points.
The MotoGP World Championship will be back in action again in two weeks’ time at Montmeló, on the outskirts of Barcelona, for the Catalan GP scheduled for 15th to 17th June.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 2nd
“To tell the truth I expected more than a second place today, but in the end we found that the conditions were hotter in the race than yesterday and so we had a few doubts about the choice of front tyre. Rossi and I made a cautionary selection, opting to fit the harder tyre, but unfortunately it didn’t work well. Valentino almost crashed a couple of times in front of me and when I tried to push to catch Jorge, I wasn’t fast enough in corner entry and as a result through the corners as well. In addition I used up the rear tyre and at the end of the race I also had to manage this problem. In any case we scored a good second place and reduced the gap to Marquez in the standings. I want to congratulate Jorge, who did a superb race and was very good and precise in managing the tyres to perfection.”