After the two August races in Austria and the Czech Republic, Andrea Dovizioso is on the road to the twelfth round of the 2016 MotoGP World Championship – the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, which takes place on Sunday.
Andrea Dovizioso has been on the Silverstone podium three times, thanks to two second places obtained in 2010 and 2011 and a third place last year, which he achieved after a superb recovery in a race held on a wet track. The Ducati Team rider come to the UK off the back of last Tuesday’s one-day test at Misano in preparation for the San Marino and the Rimini Riviera GP, which will be held at the Romagna circuit in mid-September. Andrea lapped quickly on his Desmosedici GP machine, unfortunately he crashed at Turn 4 at the end of the test, twisting his right knee in the process. After an MRI scan at the circuit, which ruled out any more serious injuries, the Romagna-born rider then underwent the necessary therapy so as to face up to the British race in the best possible way.
The Silverstone weekend schedule gets underway on Friday morning with first free practice at 9.55 am (10.55 CET), while Sunday’s 20-lap race will start at 3.30 pm (16.30 CET).

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 8th (79 points)
“I really could have done without that crash at Misano, but I’m working with my physiotherapist to do everything possible to be OK for Silverstone. My right knee is still giving me some pain but I’m undergoing intense physiotherapy. In any case Silverstone is one of the tracks I prefer: it’s really great even though it is very difficult. I think that we can also be competitive here, seeing as last year I managed to get onto the podium with a third place in the race.”

Hot off the heels of a superb 1-2 in Austria last Sunday, Andrea Dovizioso has now arrived in Czech Republic for the eleventh round of the 2016 world championship, which takes place at the Automotodrom circuit in Brno, already gearing up to take to the track again for MotoGP’s next round.
In last year’s edition of the Czech Republic Grand Prix, Dovizioso was classified in sixth place after holding on to fifth until the final lap.
The Czech Republic GP weekend programme will get underway on Friday morning with the first free practice session at 9.55 am, while the 22-lap race is scheduled for Sunday at 14.00 CET.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 7th (79 points)
“After our 1-2 in Austria, Ducati must now take a lot of confidence into the next few races even though we must never stop working to improve the little details, because our rivals are very strong and the Yamahas at Zeltweg were able to finish the race close to us. In Brno it will be more difficult but in the last few races we have improved everything in the bike so I am sure that we can also be competitive in the Czech Republic.”

Andrea Dovizioso finished runner-up today at the Austrian GP, round 10 of the MotoGP World Championship, held at Zeltweg’s Red Bull Ring, in his 250th grand prix race.
The Ducati rider was able to hold off attacks from Rossi and Lorenzo in the early stages. On the tenth lap Dovi overtook his team-mate and kept the lead until lap 20, but next time around was passed by Iannone who held onto first place until the flag.
Ducati returned to the winner’s podium for the first time in six years, since Casey Stoner’s victory in the 2010 Australian GP. The last Ducati 1-2 in MotoGP dates back once again to Australia, at Phillip Island in 2007 when Stoner won the race ahead of Loris Capirossi.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 2nd
“It’s a very important day for Ducati because we managed to obtain the win, a 1-2 even, that we have been chasing for such a long time. We’ve been working hard for four years and I am very happy to be a part of this project. I’m disappointed that I was unable to win however, because today I had a really good feeling with the bike and I was really good under braking. We didn’t take the risk of opting for the soft rear tyre, which in the end proved to be the winning move. Iannone on the other hand decided to use it and as he was the only one to do so, towards the end of the race he was at an advantage. In the last few laps, especially in the right-hand corners, I was losing too much time and I wasn’t able to stay close enough to make an attack on him. It’s a pity, but we must look at the positive side of the race because today we obtained a great team result”.

Andrea Dovizioso will be on the front row for Sunday’s 28-lap race after finishing third in qualifying, just a fraction slower than Rossi. The Italian, who opted for a three-exit strategy in Q2, set a best time of 1’23.298 on his last lap.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’23’.298 (3rd)
“It was a really tight qualifying session, and it’s great to be on the front row with two other Italian riders. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get the pole position: I did a good lap but it wasn’t perfect. In any case the important thing today was to manage to find the best possible set-up for the 28-lap race tomorrow. We worked a lot and in my opinion we have a good chance of having a say in the outcome, even though being competitive throughout the race will be complicated, especially because some riders have made big improvements. In any case I am happy with the work we have done over the weekend, because we have been able to focus a lot on race pace, even though we have to see what will happen with the tyres, which will start to wear two-thirds of the way into the race.”

The Ducati Team rider has put in a great performance on the first day of free practice for the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Zeltweg, being the quickest rider of the day, with a best time of 1’23.617. The factory Ducati man get under the 1 minute 24 second mark today and he inflicted quite a gap on his closest rivals in the timesheets.
All the riders improved their times during the afternoon’s FP2 session, which as in the morning was held on a dry track, but air (15°) and track (18°) temperatures remained rather cold throughout the day.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’23.617 (1st)
“I am very pleased with the way my weekend has begun, even though we found the tyres, and above all the weather conditions, completely different to those during the test in July. Despite this we were able to confirm our good form and everything is going well, but it’s not enough because we still have to improve some aspects in view of the race. What is certain however is that, with the speed we have, we can use tomorrow’s two sessions to search for the best race pace.”

After the three-week summer break, Andrea Dovizioso is now ready for this new challenge at the Red Bull Ring close to Zeltweg, the tenth round of the 2016 MotoGP World Championship. MotoGP’s arrival at the spectacular Austrian circuit marks the second half of the season which will draw to a close in three months’ time in Valencia.
The Austrian GP weekend will get underway on Friday morning with the first free practice session at 9.55 am, while the 28-lap race is scheduled for Sunday at 2 pm.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 9th (59 points)
“The Austrian track adapts very well to our bike, with first and second gear acceleration and medium-long straights, and so for us it is quite easy to be fast. Even though we were very competitive in the tests, we will have to see what tyres Michelin will bring for the GP, because wear is very high here, you slide around a lot and the tyres will struggle to complete a race distance.”