“Special” home podium for delighted Dovizioso

Andrea Dovizioso had plenty of reasons to be extremely pleased with his display at the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM on Sunday, as the Repsol Honda rider thrilled his home crowd by taking third. The 23 year-old’s achievement was made all the more impressive given the fact he started from eighth on the grid.

Dovizioso’s third podium of the campaign was built on his lightning quick start, as he got away well to gain four places as the MotoGP field headed into Turn 1. He then engaged in a marvellous battle with Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo for second place, before eventually crossing the line in third.

“It’s so special to be on the podium at Mugello in front of my home crowd because I’ve never made the podium in MotoGP here - I always had to watch it on the TV in the garage!” he said. “It was a really emotional experience up there with all the fans supporting us.”

Assessing his successful race, Dovizoso continued: “I made a good start and this was really important for my race. I wanted to finish the race fighting with Lorenzo because I think it could have been a good battle on the last lap, but I couldn’t catch him. We are getting closer to the front but we are not quite there yet and we have to take the next step so that we can fight for victories.”

Dovizioso’s result combined with team-mate Dani Pedrosa’s win also meant that the Repsol Honda team had two riders on the podium for the first time since the German GP in 2007. He now sits fourth in the standings, just seven points off Pedrosa in second.

“Three podium finishes is a good start to the season and is very important for the Championship, and it’s thanks to the hard work we’ve done over the winter and in the first races,” said Dovizioso. “I’d like to say congratulations to Dani on the win because he had an incredible pace, and this is an extra motivation for us to take that extra step forward so we can fight for the win.”