Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) has been asked the question since Misano:
"Can you be the ninth winner?"The answer after the Malaysian GP is now a resounding yes!
So close in Austria, on the podium again in Motegi – and back on pole position at Sepang, as the heavens opened ahead of Q2 and then did the same before the race. Confident, calm, and ready to take another GP win?
It has been a long time since Donington Park in 2009 - when the Italian took his first win in the premier class – and ‘DesmoDovi’ has spent much of that time working with the Ducati Factory Team with one single goal: get the legendary manufacturer back to the top. From 2013 to 2016, the journey has been tough but the trajectory incredible – with victory in the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix an incredible pay off to give the team their second victory of the year.
An important win for rider and factory, Dovizioso pens his name on the honour roll of 2016.
Andrea Dovizioso (P1): “From outside it looks like I was controlling the race but that wasn’t the reality. At the start of the race there was a lot of water and the pace was very fast, but I didn’t make a mistake and I’m very happy about that because it allowed me to fight for the win later on. It was very important to get this result, and here in Malaysia at a great track although I’d never won here. When the conditions are like this anything can happen but I’ve done a lot of races in these conditions – I didn’t think much about the weather because we can’t control it. After that long behind Valentino I didn’t expect to make a gap to him but then on the straight again I saw a 1.7 second gap and I knew I had a chance. I could keep good pace – I could take risks or push if I needed, but I had a really good bike. The traction on the rear was really good and it allowed me to be that little bit faster.”
“This victory was important for me. In Austria, I felt that victory was mine but I made the wrong decision. So to get this result now - this year - is very important. A lot of people work hard at home, and to win with Ducati is something different."