Andrea Dovizioso scored an important podium at the Phillip Island circuit today thanks to a third place finish in the Australian Grand Prix at the end of an exciting and hard-fought race. The Ducati Team’s Italian rider, who got a great start from row 3, led from the fifth to the seventh lap and after being passed by eventual race winner Viñales, was involved in an exciting scrap with Rossi, Iannone and Bautista. In the last few laps Andrea remained glued to the rider from Vasto’s rear wheel but he was unable to pass him and so he finished his race in a well-deserved third place. Thanks to today’s result Dovizioso has increased his lead over Rossi to 15 points in the Riders’ standings.
The next round is the Shell Malaysia Grand Prix, scheduled for the Sepang International Circuit on 2-4 November.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 3rd
“I’m really satisfied with the way the race went today. Even though we knew we had good speed, managing to get a podium here is another thing. I’m pleased I got myself immediately into an ideal position in the race, because if you start from the third row here at Phillip Island anything can happen, as we saw. Instead with a bit of luck I immediately managed to make up some positions and after a few laps I was first: I never expected that! Then I had a chance to manage the tyres and reach the end of the race in a good state, even though we were all in trouble a bit. I’m very pleased with the work we’ve done here: Phillip Island was a fundamental test to understand our level of competitiveness and now we know we have made a good step forward over last year.”

This morning the Ducati Team’s Italian rider finished FP3 in tenth, but he was fourth on aggregate thanks to the time he set in yesterday’s FP2 run. It then started to drizzle right at the start of Q2 and all the riders immediately went out on slick tyres to capitalize on the still dry asphalt. The tricky track conditions however did not allow Dovizioso to get any higher than ninth, with a time of 1’30.519, and that means that tomorrow Andrea will start from row 3 alongside Rossi and Petrucci.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 9th (1’30.519)
“Today my qualifying run went pretty badly because I was not able to set my time at the right moment. Pity because the rain, even though it was light, disturbed us throughout all of Q2 and so now we have to start from row 3. During the weekend we’ve had a few ups and downs but as for my speed we’re not so bad. Tomorrow I’ll try and immediately make up a few places and then we’ll see. The race is very long and we’ll have to see how far we can push to manage the tyre wear in the best way and try and bring home a good result.”

Andrea Dovizioso finished the first day of practice for this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix at the Phillip Island circuit in fourth place. The Ducati Team rider, who was also fourth in the morning’s FP1 session, improved during the afternoon’s run to end up with a best time of 1’29.406.
Tomorrow the riders will be out on track again for FP3 at 11.55 local time (02.55 CET), with FP4 scheduled for 15.30, Q1 for 16.10 and Q2 for 16.35.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 4th (1’29.406)
“Today’s practice went quite well because we found good track conditions with very little wind, and we were able to complete a good amount of the work that we had planned. In the end my lap times were in line with those of the top riders, so I have to say that I’m satisfied. The Desmosedici GP is more stable than last year and so we are able to be quicker, even though we are still having a bit of difficulty mid-corner, but for sure we are losing less than in the past. Tomorrow we’ll have to continue working and improve even more because I can see that there are a lot of riders who might have a competitive pace in the race. Phillip Island is a peculiar track and has to be interpreted well: let’s see what weather conditions we will find tomorrow.”

Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso powered to a splendid pole position this afternoon in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, which will be held tomorrow at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit. The Italian, who had also been quickest in the morning’s FP3 run, then went out in Q2, in which he set a time of 1’44.590 in his second exit. Today’s pole is the second of the season for Dovizioso, his seventh in MotoGP and also the seventh pole of the 2018 season for Ducati.
The Japanese GP will get underway tomorrow afternoon at 14.00 local time (07.00 CET) and will be held over a distance of 24 laps.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1st (1’44.590)
“My qualifying session went very well and I’m happy with the feeling I had during my pole run. We’ve got a good pace, but so has Marquez and not only him. I think we still have to improve something if we want to fight for the win tomorrow, so we’ll analyse the data to see what the tyre wear is like, because probably we’ll be able to adopt a different strategy than in the last two races, where we had to save the tyre for the final few laps. We went strongly both with the soft and the medium, and we haven’t decided yet which one to use. I want to thank my team for their great job, because with a few small modifications we were able to make a big improvement and in qualifying I did a really great lap. This morning my aim was to set a time of 1’44.6 and I ended up lapping in 1’44.5!”

Andrea Dovizioso finished second at the end of an exciting Thailand Grand Prix, held today for the first time at the Buriram circuit in front of more than 100,000 spectators (a total of 222,535 over the weekend). The Ducati Team rider crossed the line in the runner-up slot after a thrilling scrap right down to the final corner with Marquez, who took the chequered flag just 0.115s ahead of his Italian rival.
Dovizioso, who powered away from the front row thanks to his third-quickest time in qualifying, stayed in third for the first four laps and then on lap 5 overtook Marquez together with Rossi to move up into second.
After grabbing the lead on lap 11, Andrea stayed in control of the race until the start of the final lap, engaging in an exciting battle with Marquez made up of passes and counter-passes, but he was overtaken by the Spanish rider at Turn 5 and despite a courageous attack under braking at the final corner, he had to settle for second place overall.
For the Ducati Team’s Italian rider, this was the seventh podium of the season, and the fifth successive one since the Czech Grand Prix held at Brno at the start of August.
Thanks to today’s result, Dovizioso consolidates his second place in the championship, increasing his advantage over Rossi to 22 points.
The next round of the championship will be the Grand Prix of Japan at Motegi from 19-21 October.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 2nd
“I’m very happy with this second place, even though I lost out on the win right at the final corner. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much idea about Marquez’s strengths and weaknesses because I was almost always in the lead: I tried to counter his pass at Turn 5 but lost a bit of ground and even though I still managed to make up some at the final corner, I wasn’t close enough to pass him. Pity, but for me this second place is worth more than the one in Aragón because on a track with these characteristics last year we would never have been able to fight for the win and so I’m satisfied with the improvements that we continue to make in every race. Together with my engineers, we always manage to understand something new, we’re working very well and now this gives us the chance of fighting for the win almost in every race.”