Andrea Dovizioso seized a spectacular win in the Qatar GP, the opening round of the 2019 MotoGP World Championship, on the Mission Winnow Ducati team’s Desmosedici. The Italian thus repeated the result achieved last year, once again beating Marc Marquez to the finish line for just 23 thousandths of a second. For Dovizioso, who scored five consecutive podiums at the Losail track, it’s the 12th win with Ducati.
Starting from first row, Dovizioso led the race from the very beginning, battling with Marquez and Rins, then tried to pull away from the pack in the last few laps. Marquez tried a move at the very last corner but the Italian once again managed to answer back to cross the finish line in first position.
Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Mission Winnow Ducati) – 1st
“I’m super happy about this win, especially because after the tests I wouldn’t have expected to be so fast. We stayed focused and we made progress in each session. Our strategy in the race was simply to preserve the tyre, and this made the difference, but it wasn’t easy because I led for most of the race and I couldn’t really study my opponents. Marquez gave it everything he could, as usual, and pushed me to the limit. We made the most of our strenghths, that is, acceleration and top speed, but we still need to improve our corner speed. This year there are plenty of quick riders and it’ll be crucial not to lose too many points on less favorable tracks. We need to keep our feet on the ground and continue working in this direction.”