Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso believes he extracted the maximum potential from himself and his GP19 on his way to finishing second behind Marc Marquez in the Aragon Grand Prix.
The Italian had to make his way through from tenth on the grid after struggling in qualifying, managing a best lap over 1.5 seconds slower than pole-man Marquez.
His race pace was much more impressive though, as he quickly cut through the field-with help from the collision between Alex Rins and Franco Morbidelli that saw the latter retire-to sit seventh at the conclusion of the opening lap.
He then rode intelligently throughout the rest of the race to manoeuvre his way into second by passing a struggling Maverick Vinales with just a few laps remaining, eventually leading home fellow Ducati runner Jack Miller.
Dovizioso admitted after the race that he knew a podium was possible throughout the weekend, but didn’t expect to struggle as much as he did in qualifying, granting him an extra challenge in the race.
“We knew our speed wasn’t bad, we had a chance but to start back on the fourth row created a tough situation, I felt good before the race and was focussed but I needed a bit of luck to get to the front,” said Dovizioso.
“I got that with the crash between Rins and Morbidelli as that opened the door for me and after that I rode in a perfect way because after that moment I had to close down the gaps and pass a lot of riders.
“I didn’t need to push 100% and use up my rear tyre, and this was the key as I was able to keep the same lap time until the end and that allowed me to slow down a little and use the front tyre more than the rear.
“I felt good, I was on the limit but able to control the tyre consumption so to finish second was really nice and important for my championship position.”
Dovizioso’s second place moves him further clear of the battle for third overall in the riders standings between team-mate Danilo Petrucci and Rins, with the Suzuki man now 46 points behind Dovizioso with five races remaining.
The 2017 MotoGP runner-up remains the only man who still remains within mathematical contention for this year’s title, albeit with a slim chance as he trails Marquez by 98 points with only 125 left on the table.
This means that as long as Marquez increases his points lead to over 100 in Thailand he will wrap up his sixth premier class championship with four rounds to spare.
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