The British Grand Prix, round 12 of the MotoGP World Championship, which was due to be held today, was cancelled due to bad weather conditions at the Silverstone circuit.
The race start had been brought forward to 11.30 local time (12.30 CET) to try and avoid the risk of rain, after yesterday the Race Direction had to interrupt the FP4 session due to flooding at certain points of the circuit, which had caused several riders to crash, with serious consequences for Tito Rabat.
Unfortunately the weather conditions did not improve during the day and after a number of postponements, at 16.00 local time (17.00 CET) the organizers decided to cancel all of today’s scheduled races after consultation with the MotoGP riders.
The next round is the San Marino and Riviera di Rimini Grand Prix, which will be held at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’ from 7th to 9th September.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04)
“It was a real pity not to be able to do the race because we were very competitive, especially in the dry. A weekend that was going well for us turned into an unacceptable situation, and so now it will be necessary to understand exactly what happened. We’ll talk about it in the Safety Commission at the next race, because to resurface a track and then find out it has more bumps than before, together with a problem of drainage, is just not good enough for a championship of this level.”
Month: August 2018
#12 British GP|Q2
Front row for Andrea Dovizioso who took second place in difficult conditions at Silverstone today. With the track still wet in some sectors, Dovizioso powered his best lap time in 2’10.314 and tomorrow’s British GP has now been moved to a new time of 11.30 BST (12.30 CET) to avoid the risk of torrential rain expected in the early afternoon.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 2nd (2’10.314)
“All things considered, today went very well because in these conditions it was easy to make errors: three-quarters of the track was completely dry and managing to do a good time with the rain tyres was really difficult, but we succeeded. It was vital to start from the front row because tomorrow it’ll probably rain; as we haven’t really lapped in the wet we don’t know what to expect and so starting from the front is for sure an advantage. We’ve been competitive and fast this weekend, and in the dry we are in good shape, then tomorrow if it rains we’ll find new conditions, but it’s the same for everyone and we’ll try and adapt to the situation in the best way.”
#12 British GP|FP1-2
The first day of free practice for the British Grand Prix, which is being held this weekend at the Silverstone circuit, concluded with Andrea Dovizioso provisionally topping the timesheets after FP1 and FP2, which were both held on a dry track surface.
The factory Ducati rider set his best time in the afternoon session in 2’01.385.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1st (2’01.385)
“I’m pleased because despite the difficult track surface conditions we were able to put in a good performance, especially this afternoon when I lapped with the tyres used in the morning and we were even quicker. Unfortunately, here at Silverstone the bumps in the asphalt make the situation rather complicated, but in any case I can see that virtually everyone is struggling: they’ve resurfaced the track but the conditions are worse than last year. Luckily the grip is good and so in the end things are not going so badly. Tomorrow we’ll try and use some other tyres, seeing as today we only focussed on tyre solutions for the rear, but for the moment I’m very satisfied with this first day.”
#12 British GP|preview
After two rounds in the Czech Republic and Austria, the MotoGP World Championship now moves over the Channel for the third appointment in the month of August at the fast and challenging Silverstone circuit.
Dovizioso has stepped onto the Silverstone podium a total of four times, including a spectacular victory last year as well as two second places obtained in 2010 and 2011 and a third place in 2015.
Before leaving for Silverstone, the Ducati Team rider took part in a one-day test on Sunday 19th August at the Misano Adriatico circuit, where he mainly worked on preparation for the San Marino and Riviera di Rimini GP on 9th September, obtaining excellent results with his Desmosedici GP machine.
The Silverstone weekend programme gets underway on Friday morning with the first free practice session at 9.55 local time (10.55 CET), while the 20-lap race is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 13.00 (14.00 CET).
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 4th (129 points)
“I believe we will also be very competitive at Silverstone. Last year we won because I was able to race with an excellent strategy, always being in the right position to try and win, even though probably we weren’t the fastest on the track. The British circuit is challenging for lots of reasons: tyre wear, energy required, especially in your forearms, the always changeable weather conditions and so it’s impossible to predict the outcome. In addition, you have to take account of the track conditions and I hope that with the new surface they have been able to eliminate the bumps from last year.”
#11 Austrian GP|race
It was a good race for Andrea Dovizioso, who took the chequered flag in third place. The Ducati Team’s rider from Romagna, who yesterday qualified second on the front row of the grid, chose both ‘medium’ front and rear tyres for the race. Dovi remained in the leading group for 18 laps but, after making a small mistake at Turn 1, he had to slow his pace slightly to finish the Austrian GP in third place, 1.656s away from his team-mate. Thanks to this third place today, Dovizioso is the second rider in Ducati’s MotoGP history with the most podiums (24), behind Casey Stoner.
The next round of the championship will be the British Grand Prix, scheduled for the Silverstone circuit from 24th to 26th August.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 3rd
“At the start of the race unfortunately I was never able to get in amongst the battle for first place, because I couldn’t pass Jorge even though at that moment I was quicker than him, but to do that I used up the rear tyre too much, it dropped off a lot ten laps from the end, and this affected my race a bit. From that point onwards, I wasn’t able to do much because I couldn’t link up the corners very well. Pity, because we were pretty good under braking, but every race has its own story and we must always try and interpret the tyres in the best possible way.”
#11 Austrian GP|Q2
The Ducati Team rider had an excellent day today at the Red Bull Ring, qualifying second for tomorrow’s Austrian Grand Prix. The all-important Q2 session was held on a dry track after the morning’s FP3 run, which was run in the wet, left the overnight positions unchanged.
During the Q2 Dovizioso, who only went out on medium rear tyres, set a time of 1’23.243 on his second run, the Italian finishing just two-thousandths of a second away from Marquez’s pole time. The eleventh round of the season, over a distance of 28 laps, will get underway tomorrow afternoon at 14.00 CET.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04): 2nd (1’23.243)
“I was just a couple of thousandths of a second off the pole, but in any case qualifying went very well: I set a really good time and I didn’t expect that because in FP4 I didn’t have a great feeling with the bike. We chose the medium rear tyre for qualifying and it went well, and also for the race we are in good shape. Marquez here is particularly competitive, more than last year, but we are also stronger and so I believe that tomorrow it will be a three-way battle with Marc and Jorge. Unfortunately, we were not able to do many laps in the dry and so we’ll go into the race with some doubts about the choice of tyres and the strategies, and we’ll just have to be ready to manage the situation.”
#11 Austrian GP|FP1-2
It was a good start for the Ducati Team rider at the Red Bull Ring near Zeltweg today, where this weekend’s eleventh round of the championship – the Austrian Grand Prix – is taking place.
Andrea Dovizioso ended the day in first position after concluding the morning’s dry weather session at the top of the timesheets, while the afternoon session was held in heavy rain and as a result the standings remained the same.
Dovizioso was the only rider capable of dipping under the 1 minute 24 second mark as he set a time of 1’23.830
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04): 1st (1’23.830)
“We got off to a very good start today and right from the morning session the bike was all set to go, mainly because we’ve just come from a race where we went very well and so we didn’t have to change the set-up very much. Even though we only did one session in the dry, our times are already very good and we have already completed a large part of the work load for the race. Unfortunately, in the afternoon we were unable to continue working on the tyres because of the rain, but what counts is that we were quick right from the start. Tomorrow let’s hope that the weather conditions allow us to work on the final details for the race.”
#11 Austrian GP|preview
Less than one week after the Czech Grand Prix, the MotoGP World Championship continues non-stop with the second of three races in August, this time in the heart of Austria, at the Red Bull Ring close to Zeltweg in Styria.
The day after the triumphant win, Dovizioso took part in the official MotoGP test on Monday, carrying out detailed testing of the new aerodynamic package used in the win at Brno.
In the two editions of the Austrian GP held at the Red Bull Ring, the Italian rider has taken home a second place in 2016 and a superb win last year, after a spectacular battle down to the final corner with Marc Marquez.
The Austrian GP schedule gets underway on Friday morning with the first free practice session at 9.55 am, while the 28-lap race will start at 14.00 CET on Sunday.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 3rd (113 points)
“After our splendid win at Brno, now I’m very pleased to race immediately again in Austria, because for us the Red Bull Ring is a very favourable track and so I’m sure we’ll also be competitive here. I expect to see Marc and our other rivals stronger than last year so it’s not going to be easy to repeat the win, but I have to admit that it wasn’t easy to win last year either. The Red Bull Ring is a bit of a strange track, but I expect that the aerodynamic solutions we adopted at Brno will also work here, and especially at the remaining circuits in the second half of the season.”
#10 Czech Republic GP|race
Andrea Dovizioso celebrates his 100th GP for Ducati by winning the Czech Grand Prix ahead of his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who finished a close runner-up.
The Italian rider, who started from pole position, led for 18 of the scheduled 21 laps, battling first with Rossi, then in the final stages holding off the attacks from his team-mate and Marquez and he crossed the finish-line in first place with an advantage of 178 thousandths of a second over Lorenzo. Thanks to today’s win, Dovizioso moves into third place in the Riders’ championship standings with 113 points, 68 behind leader Marquez.
The next event will be the Austrian Grand Prix, which will be held in one week’s time at the Red Bull Ring circuit near Zeltweg.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1st
“It was an incredible win! Before this weekend I was excited because I felt that we could do well, but I never expected such a spectacular victory. I was very quick right from the first session on Friday, yesterday I did an awesome qualifying, today in the race I had a perfect strategy, and so I’m very pleased with everything. I managed the race lap by lap, trying to interpret what was happening around me and see how the other guys were riding: I raced well without ever misusing the rear tyre and, even though I was having a bit of difficulty in the final stages, in any case I was able to fight off Jorge and Marc, who today were both really on top form.”
#10 Czech Republic GP|Q2
Andrea Dovizioso put in a superb lap at the Automotodrom circuit in Brno to clinch pole position for the Czech Grand Prix. The Ducati Team rider set a time of 1’54.689 on his second run in Q2 and will start from pole for the tenth round of the season, which gets underway on Sunday at 14.00 CET over a distance of 21 laps. The last time Dovizioso set the quickest time in qualifying was the Malaysian GP in 2016, and the last time a Ducati was on pole in Brno was even further back, in 2008 with Casey Stoner. This morning Andrea set the tenth time in FP3 to move straight into the Q2 session in the afternoon.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04): 1st (1’54.689)
“Until now it’s been an almost perfect weekend! We immediately started off quickly and this allowed us to work calmly for the race and arrive competitive in qualifying. More than the pole position, which is in any case important, I’m pleased with the time that we did. I didn’t expect to set this lap time, but when the others began to push hard I realised that my bike was so quick and I could push really hard as well. The Desmosedici responded well and I set an extraordinary time. For the race it’s not easy to understand who’s going to be in a good position, but my feeling is very good.”