Andrea Dovizioso finished runner-up today at the Austrian GP, round 10 of the MotoGP World Championship, held at Zeltweg’s Red Bull Ring, in his 250th grand prix race.
The Ducati rider was able to hold off attacks from Rossi and Lorenzo in the early stages. On the tenth lap Dovi overtook his team-mate and kept the lead until lap 20, but next time around was passed by Iannone who held onto first place until the flag.
Ducati returned to the winner’s podium for the first time in six years, since Casey Stoner’s victory in the 2010 Australian GP. The last Ducati 1-2 in MotoGP dates back once again to Australia, at Phillip Island in 2007 when Stoner won the race ahead of Loris Capirossi.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 2nd
“It’s a very important day for Ducati because we managed to obtain the win, a 1-2 even, that we have been chasing for such a long time. We’ve been working hard for four years and I am very happy to be a part of this project. I’m disappointed that I was unable to win however, because today I had a really good feeling with the bike and I was really good under braking. We didn’t take the risk of opting for the soft rear tyre, which in the end proved to be the winning move. Iannone on the other hand decided to use it and as he was the only one to do so, towards the end of the race he was at an advantage. In the last few laps, especially in the right-hand corners, I was losing too much time and I wasn’t able to stay close enough to make an attack on him. It’s a pity, but we must look at the positive side of the race because today we obtained a great team result”.