Andrea Dovizioso started from the second row, in sixth place, in Sunday’s race and was hoping to challenge for the podium at the Misano track where he and the Ducati Team have plenty of test experience to build from.
But the Italian rider was never really able to trouble his rivals for a rostrum position having battled for third place early in the race with Maverick Viñales (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR), Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) and eventual race winner Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team).
The Honda riders pulled away to chase early leaders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi of the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team, whilst Dovizioso could not ultimately get the better of Viñales even after the Spaniard had to temporarily drop behind the Italian under instructions from Race Direction as a penalty for exceeding the track limits.
Andrea Dovizioso: “It was too bad because today I was expecting a different result in the race. Unfortunately we still struggle to make the bike turn as well as that of our opponents, and after several laps this difference increases. In order to bridge the gap I have to use so much physical energy, using a lot of force on the handlebars and my riding loses fluidity. To do a constant race I shouldn’t be pushing so much in the early laps, but to stay with the leading group that is what we are forced to do.”