Andrea Dovizioso won a wonderful victory in the San Marino Grand prix while his Ducati teammate Jorge Lorenzo fell at the Misano circuit.
“I wanted this win so badly, because at Misano Ducati and I have always struggled in recent years. In the test in August, however, we realized that we had made an important step forward and we could be competitive in the race”, Dovizioso said.
“We worked really well during the weekend, in very different conditions, but both Jorge and Marc [Marquez] are very strong here so to win I had to do a perfect race. I started off in the right frame of mind, fully focussed on the race strategy, and when I took the lead, I pulled out a small advantage and then managed the situation until the finish. Winning here at Misano was very important for Ducati but also for me. Years ago it seemed like an impossible dream, but now we’ve done it and it fills me with so much satisfaction.”
He’s done it Mugello on a Ducati, now @AndreaDovizioso wins at Misano on the red machine ?#SanMarinoGP ?? pic.twitter.com/Erob6HzVF0
— MotoGP™??? (@MotoGP) September 10, 2018
“To win here is something I really wanted” – @AndreaDovizioso #SanMarinoGP ?? pic.twitter.com/051s0ENZBC
— MotoGP™??? (@MotoGP) September 9, 2018
Dovizioso: I had to do a perfect race; Lorenzo: We had to choose harder tyres than what I usually like
Lorenzo admitted that in the end, the San Marino Grand prix was not the race he and the team expected, even though he was competitive.
“I think that we could have fought for the win. It was much warmer than the last few days and the grip wasn’t ideal, so we had to choose harder tyres than what I usually like. I suffered a lot under braking because I was unable to stop the bike, the front was turning in on me and the situation was very difficult to manage. This was the main reason why I crashed: I had to push more than usual because I had lost too much time battling with Marquez and Andrea had taken advantage to break away. Now we have to analyze the data well to understand how to improve the bike and be even quicker in the next races.”
This is also MotoGP. #JL99 ? #SanMarinoGP ? Gold & Goose pic.twitter.com/e4VqMLCEks
— Jorge Lorenzo (@lorenzo99) September 9, 2018
