The Ducati Team rider was forced to retire today while he was doing a very good race in round 11 of the MotoGP World Championship at the Automotodrom Brno in the Czech Republic.
After a morning in which a heavy downpour continued to fall on the Moravian circuit, it stopped raining shortly before the start of the MotoGP race but the track surface remained wet. Dovizioso powered away well from the line and passed into the lead on lap 2 by overtaking Marquez. Iannone moved into second place on the next lap and then took the lead followed by Dovizioso and Redding, who subsequently swapped places. On lap 10 abnormal front tyre wear forced Dovizioso to come into the pits: after switching to his second bike, he then retired on lap 16.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – DNF
“I feel really bad about the way the things went in the race because I was very competitive and was in a position to get a good result. For the race we opted for the same tyres we had used in the morning warm-up and which, in very wet track conditions, had proved to be excellent. Before the race however it stopped raining and, even though the track stayed damp, the front tyre soon began to deteriorate in an abnormal way, so much so that I was forced to come into the pits. It was a real pity, because this was a great opportunity to score a good result and so I am a bit disheartened because I return home from Brno with no points.”