Andrea Dovizioso says a decision to run a used rear soft rain tyre in MotoGP warm-up was the “reason” he was able to win the Valencia Grand Prix when it was restarted following the red flag.
Dovizioso was quickly cast adrift by Suzuki's Alex Rins in the opening stages of the first part, but took the lead away from the Spaniard just moments before the race was halted due to worsening track conditions.
While Rins and Yamaha's Valentino Rossi, who was also involved in the lead group at the red flag, did not not have a fresh rear to use, Dovizioso did as he had run a scrubbed tyre in warm-up.
Dovizioso says this was key to his dominant charge in the second part, while also highlighting changes made to the set-up of the rear of his Ducati as pivotal to securing his fourth win of the year.
“The reason why we won was because we made the right decision this morning to not use a new tyre in the warm-up, so we have two tyres for the race,” he said.
“So I was able to put new tyres for the second race, on the rear. Also we did some change on the set-up, because Valentino was much faster on the braking and entry, and the reason I couldn't be as strong as him was the rear.
“So we did something to be able to brake a bit harder, and a mix; the tyre and the set-up work well.
“So I'm so happy how we work this weekend, every practice our speed was good but we never were the fastest.
“But in the end in the qualifying and the race we were there, so I'm so happy to finish the season like and give this result to my team.”
Dovizioso admits he was “worried” Rins would break away again when he hit the front at the second start, but realised almost immediately he had the pace to stop the Suzuki rider.
“About the second race, I wanted to stop Alex because I was worried to make the same what happened in the first race.
“But in the end I realised after two laps I was faster than in the first race, and they were a bit slower than the first race.
“So I was able to put in a good rhythm and Alex couldn't follow me because I think he didn't have the new tyre, also Valentino.”
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