Dovizioso disappointed to miss top ten

A difficult race for Ducati Team saw both their riders finish outside the top ten at Aragon

Things did not go according to plan for Andrea Dovizioso in Sunday’s MotoGP™ race at the Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon, as he struggled after a good start and dropped to 11th before crossing the line.

Dovizioso’s colleague Michele Pirro, riding for the Ducati Team in the absence of the injured Andrea Iannone, also missed the top ten as he finished in 12th place.
Having qualified in fourth and after a positive morning warm-up, in which he also finished fourth, Dovizioso got a good start from the second row and was scrapping in amongst the leading group in the early laps.

The Italian then started to suffer a drop in front tyre grip and then a worsening vibration on his Desmosedici GP, so had to slow his pace. In the last few laps he lost several positions and finished the 14th round of the season in 11th place.
 
Andrea Dovizioso: “I feel pretty bad about the result because we worked well throughout the weekend: after a very good Saturday, in which we found a very good race pace, and qualifying on the second row with fourth-quickest time, I was sure that we could have fought for the podium. In the warm-up we confirmed that we were at the same competitive level and we were ready to score a good result in the race.”

“Unfortunately after four laps the front tyre began to lose grip, creating a number of problems, and then I started to feel a strong vibration. Obviously I had to slow down my pace, especially because I was worried about the situation, and I lost a lot of positions in the last few laps. Now we have to try and understand the reasons together with Michelin. The fact remains that we had been working well throughout the weekend and ending the race in 11th place is really disappointing.”