Even in their worst years in the premier class, Ducati have always gone well in the wet, as has Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team). When the rain began to fall before the race many were expecting a strong result from pole setter Dovizioso, a solid start saw him tuck in behind Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) in the tricky conditions. More rain returned to the track and with that Dovizioso took the lead until the red flag was displayed, Race Direction ruling the conditions too dangerous to continue. As a result the race was restarted and set to run over 12 laps, the previous portion of the race deciding the grid.
"I was leading the first part of the race in very difficult conditions, but then too much rain started to fall and it was right to stop the race"Again Dovizioso started well and settled in behind Rossi, allowing 'The Doctor' to judge the conditions and take the risks. But then at Turn 12 the conditions got the better of him and Dovizioso fell, Ducati's chances of winning once again washing away. Unfortunately for Dovizioso, his Desmosedici GP sustained too much damage to restart and he left Assen with zero points. Rossi would soon fall after Dovizioso, only 13 riders finishing the race in conditions that were clearly extremely difficult. Dovizioso is a distant 11th in the championship table with only 43 points, Assen his fourth DNF of the year.
Andrea Dovizioso: “Obviously I am very disappointed because we had a great weekend and I was leading the first part of the race in very difficult conditions, but then too much rain started to fall and it was right to stop the race. What actually happened on the second start is that everyone fitted the soft rear tyre, which had a lot more grip but which created even more problems at the front, the reason for all the crashes yesterday and today. Valentino and I both knew that we were the fastest riders out there and we pushed ourselves on to be as fast as possible, but in the end we both made mistakes. There aren’t many excuses when you crash, because it means that you have made a mistake, but when there are so many crashes in two days in the wet it’s important to understand the reason why.””