The second and final day of MotoGP testing at the Misano World Circuit, which saw the participation of all the riders of the top class in preparation for the San Marino GP here in mid-September, concluded this afternoon at 18h00.
Hot summer weather conditions, with sun on both days and on-track temperatures of 45° C in the early afternoon allowed the teams present to carry out their full work programme without interruption and also test the new tyre options brought to Misano by Michelin.
Coming off the back of his bad crash in the British GP last Sunday at Silverstone, Andrea Dovizioso took to the track yesterday in the early afternoon and completed 37 laps. Andrea continued today without any physical problems, completing 81 laps, the best of which was obtained this morning in 1’33.499, and he finished the test in seventeenth place but without using the extra-soft rear.

Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 1’33.499 (17th)
“Luckily I managed to do a day and a half of testing and physically I’m OK. In the last few days we did a good job at home: I was able to get back into good shape and here I managed to lap on track, even though I still feel a bit knocked about. It was very important to test here, because we found a track that was quite different to last year, with not so much grip and because there were also all the other riders. We were able to do a lot of interesting tests in view of the race, both with the material available and with the set-up. I’m not entirely satisfied with our speed but it was important to get out on track in this test; we did it so now we’ll prepare well to get ready during the race weekend.”

A nasty crash immediately brought Andrea Dovizioso’s race to an end at the British GP. The rider from Romagna, who got a good start from the third row, at the first corner was unable to avoid the bike of Quartararo, who crashed in front of him after a high-side, and he catapulted down violently onto the asphalt. On-track medical assistance arrived immediately and then Dovizioso was taken to the circuit medical centre for checks: the doctors found that he had concussion and a number of contusions, so they decided to take him by helicopter to Coventry Hospital for further checks that fortunately have excluded any complications. Dovizioso will return to Italy this evening.
Despite today’s no-points score, Dovizioso remains second in the Riders’ standings, 78 points from leader Marquez.

Andrea Dovizioso will line up for the start of the British Grand Prix, which is scheduled to get underway at 13.00 local time (14.00 CET) tomorrow and which will be run over 20 laps of the Silverstone circuit, from rows 3 after today’s qualifying session.
Dovizioso finished this morning’s FP3 session in fourteenth and so had to take part in Q1, which he headed with a time of 1’58.944. Andrea then improved in Q2, with a lap time of 1’58.762, exactly the same as Viñales, but he was classified seventh behind the Spanish rider.

Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 1’58.762 (7th)
“Luckily we managed to find a good feeling in FP4, when we used the hard tyre for the first time and we were in good shape by carefully studying the data. Marquez appears to be the quickest, but then there’s a group of five riders, me included, who all have a similar pace. It’s difficult to predict how the race will go: for sure the Yamahas and the Suzuki of Rins, as well as Marquez, will be very strong, especially over the early laps, but this track is very challenging, both for the tyres and for the body, so we’ll have to see what will happen. Tomorrow it’ll probably be hot again, the same as or even more than today, and I think that a lot of riders will opt for the hard tyre, which isn’t easy to get the best out of because it doesn’t have much grip but allows you to ride more smoothly. It’s a pity I just lost out on the second row, but I don’t think that the starting position will affect my race.”

Al After the first two free practice sessions for this weekend’s British GP at the Silverstone circuit, the Ducati Team rider was classified inside the top ten.
Dovizioso, also sixth in the morning’s FP1 session, improved his time in the afternoon to lap in 2’00.110 and confirm his position.

Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 2’00.110 (6th)
“It’s nice to race here at Silverstone with the new asphalt and now the track is in a much better condition than last year. I’ve got a good feeling with my Desmosedici GP but we’ve still got a lot of work to do. In the afternoon the temperature went up considerably and it looks like tomorrow and Sunday it could be even warmer so it’ll be important to understand tomorrow what tyre choice to make. Today we focussed mainly on set-up work: we’ve improved some aspects but I’m sure there’s still some more margin. As I expected, there are a lot of quick riders out there, with a fast pace as well, but it’s still too early to see who is looking good for the race.”

After the spectacular victory ten days ago in Austria at the Red Bull Ring, Andrea Dovizioso has now arrived in the United Kingdom for one of the traditional events on the MotoGP calendar, the British Grand Prix. The Silverstone circuit will once again be the venue for the final appointment in the month of August for the MotoGP teams – round 12 of 19 – and because of the cancellation of the race twelve months ago, Andrea Dovizioso is actually the rider who scored the last race win in England in 2017 on his Ducati.
With his Austrian GP win, the rider from Forlí has now reached 172 points in the standings, 58 behind leader Marc Márquez.

Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 2nd (172 points)
“Nothing gives you more satisfaction and confidence than a victory, and so we come to Silverstone with our moral sky-high. Our result at the Red Bull Ring didn’t come about by chance, because we worked really well over the two successive race weekends and the results proved us to be right. Even though the characteristics of the British track are not as favourable to us as Brno and Zeltweg, we have already shown that we can also be quick at Silverstone, like in 2017 when we won the race. As always, the weather will play an important part and we have to be ready to adapt to any circumstances.”

Andrea Dovizioso today won a spectacular Austrian Grand Prix with a last-corner pass on Marquez after a terrific sparring match with the Spanish champion that lasted from the first to the last lap. Dovizioso powered away well at the start from the front row, then overtook the provisional race leader Quartararo on lap 6. He was followed immediately by Marquez, with whom Andrea then had an amazing scrap that only finished at the chequered flag, with Andrea flashing across the line first by 0.213s.
In the overall Riders’ championship standings, Andrea Dovizioso is still in second place but he has reduced the gap to leader Marquez to 58 points.

Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 1st
“Today I’m so happy, because this victory was really important for me. Towards the end of the race I had good right-side grip on the tyre and this allowed me to successfully attempt that incredible overtaking move at the final corner. My strategy for the race was to be aggressive right from the opening lap, but Marquez was more aggressive than me. He immediately tried to impose his rhythm but I was always able to respond and in the final stages I think he had more wear on his tyres than me so I could stay right on his tail until the end, and attempt that crazy passing move on him at the final corner. I want to thank Ducati and my team because today we did everything just perfectly.”

Andrea Dovizioso will start the eleventh round of the season – the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring near Zeltweg – from the front row of the grid after today’s qualifying session. After wrapping up FP3 in third place, the Ducati Team rider from the Romagna region of Italy then went on to set the third quickest time of 1’23.515 in qualifying.

Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 1’23.515 (3rd)
“It was vitally important to start from the front row of the grid and this we managed to do. We are a bit far off Marquez, who set a really good time, but like him we’ve got good pace so the aim for tomorrow will be to get a good start and try and prevent him from getting away in the early laps. It’ll be a long race and I’m convinced we can play a major part up at the front”.

The first two free practice sessions for this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring close to Zeltweg concluded this afternoon with the Ducati Team rider in third place.
Dovizioso, who topped the timesheets in the morning’s FP1 session with a quickest lap of 1’24.003, was unable to improve in FP2 thanks also to an innocuous slow-speed crash at Turn 3 at the end of the session.

Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 1’24.003 (3rd)
“We began the day in a really positive way. In the afternoon we tried a different set-up that worked better under braking and this is important, especially because my pace is very good and I’m not far behind Marquez. We’re working well and I think there is still room to improve. Unfortunately, I made a small mistake at Turn 3 and was not able to improve my FP2 time, but as I said before we’re fast and I’m really pleased about that.”

Just three days after the Czech Republic Grand Prix and the one-day official test at the Brno circuit, the Ducati rider is ready for a new challenge at Spielberg for the Austrian Grand Prix, the eleventh round of the 2019 MotoGP season.
Following his second place finish at Brno last weekend, Andrea Dovizioso currently also lies second in the championship standings with 147 points (63 behind leader Márquez) and he arrives in Austria determined to repeat the results of the last three editions, in which he has always been on the podium: second (2016), first (2017) and third (2018).

Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 2nd (147 points)
“We can’t deny that the Red Bull Ring is an excellent track for us, this is clear from the results achieved there in the last few years, but as I’m always saying, each race has its own story to tell. Last year Márquez finished ahead of me, so I’m sure that this year he will again be competitive. The most important thing is to focus on ourselves and maintain the feeling we found at Brno, both during the weekend and during the test, which was very positive. We’re going to try everything we can again, and for sure we’re not going to give up.”

Andrea Dovizioso stepped onto the podium of the Czech Republic Grand Prix today at the Brno circuit after a great run in second place. The Italian, who powered away well at the start from the second row, immediately slotted in behind poleman Marquez, and held on to the same position until the chequered flag.
Dovizioso maintains his second position with 147 points in the overall standings.
The Ducati factory rider will be back on track at Brno tomorrow for a one-day official test and then the MotoGP circus will head directly to Zeltweg for the Austrian Grand Prix, which is scheduled for the Red Bull Ring circuit from 9 to 11 August.

Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 2nd
“I’m happy with my second place today and the fact that we were fast all through the weekend, even though unfortunately it wasn’t enough to win the race. I opted for a different rear tyre to Marquez and at the start I pushed hard to stay close to him, but when he began to brake harder I didn’t have any margin to push harder at the front. Pity, but we weren’t that far away from him, so we have to continue to believe in ourselves: I’m still positive because tomorrow there will be an important test day here at Brno, with a lot of new material to try out.”