Andrea Dovizioso ended his PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team debut 21st.
Dovi had a good start to his debut race as a PETRONAS Yamaha SRT rider and was able to stay in touch with the riders ahead of him in the opening laps.
Unfortunately, the Italian was handed a long lap penalty for exceeding track limits at the halfway point of the race, which prevented him from being able to stay with the main field.
At the end of the 27 laps, Andrea ended his home GP – and first MotoGP race in nearly ten months – in 21st place.
After two back-to-back GPs the work continues for PETRONAS Yamaha SRT, who will stay at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli for a two-day MotoGP test (21-22 September).
Andrea Dovizioso #04
P 21“It was a really strange experience to start the race from 24th, but it was good because we wanted to be consistent throughout the race and learn, which is what we did. Unfortunately I had to do a long lap penalty and I lost the group, but after that I was able to play a little and understand more things. I’m happy with that and also that my best lap of the race was towards the end, plus it wasn’t a bad lap time. I felt a lot of good things from the bike at this point, but we need to work together to analyse why it happened then to make sure I can feel that at the beginning of a race as well. I’m happy that I will get two days of testing this week and I hope that the weather will be good for it”.