It was a points finish for PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team’s MotoGP rider today in Portugal, with Andrea Dovizioso crossing the line 14th in what became a shortened Grande Prémio do Algarve.
Dovi had a strong start to the race, claiming one place off the line to take the first corner in 20th. Gaining another place in the early stages, the Italian had his work cut out to reduce the deficit to the main field. Able to find more pace in the final stages of the race, he moved into 16th with five laps to go. Making further progress to find himself one place behind team-mate Rossi in 14th when the race was brought to it’s early end, Andrea made it a double-points finish for the team.
Andrea will now travel across the border to Spain for the final round of the season: the Gran Premio de la Comunitat Valenciana.
Andrea Dovizioso #04
P 14“It has been a good weekend in terms of my personal progress, because every practice has been dry, I have been able to work on the way I ride the bike and I feel that I’ve made some improvements. This has given me the possibility to be quite fast in the middle of the race and until the end. This is good because it means we are going in the right direction. Of course 14th isn’t the position I want and my speed can still be improved, but overall it has been a positive weekend. There are still things to be improved, with both myself and the bike, because we don’t have the grip we want and it means we can’t stay with the other riders or ride in a smooth way”.