DOVIZIOSO CAPS
Not even a rude awakening at 4.00 am caused by a bout of food poisoning would hold a pale, sunken Dovizioso back. For this is a different Italian we’re seeing these days, one who had the confidence to sit out warm-up to conserve energy before sweeping to
ON MORE THAN one occasion in recent months, Dovizioso has spoken of his current form: “I’m 30 years old, but my style, my character is not to do everything in the first race, in one lap,” he said last October. “It’s step by step. I’m stronger now than ever.” By the end of Sunday, few could doubt him.
Yet it was not Dovizioso’s Ducati that caught the eye early on. Coming from seventh on the grid, Jorge Lorenzo [Ducati Racing] produced a textbook start-to-exit Turn One third. By the end of the lap the Desmosedici speed carried him to the front. The Movistar Yamahas, Repsol Honda’s Dovizioso, surprise package Petrucci, and Iannone weren’t far away. A breathtaking, eight-way dingdong ensued. Early leaders Lorenzo and Rossi lit up the opening exchanges, the Italian always devilishly strong when braking for Scarperia.
But the early pace was slow. It took Viñales’ passing of Rossi at Scarperia on lap four for lap times to descend into the low one minute 48 seconds, a pace the leading men had shown in FP4. It was here that Lorenzo, Iannone and the Hondas faltered. Only Rossi, Dovizioso and Petrucci could hang on. Four men would contest those three podium places, as the other three fell away.
A rapidly rising Bautista, recovering from a bruising encounter with Zarco on lap one, soon swallowed them all up to sit fifth on lap 11, three seconds off the front. Only Marquez could stem the tide, riding intelligently in his countryman’s slipstream as his front tyre became overheated and skated through the S-bends. “I was taking a lot of risks in the corners and two bikes overtook me on the straight,” he later said. “It was difficult to manage that situation with the front.”
By then Dovizioso was looking increasingly ominous. The Italian was showing few signs of the stomach issues that kept him out of warm-up, a condition that wasn’t likely to be improved on lap two by a terrifying wobble at well over 210 mph (338 km/h) over the crest preceding Turn One. Strong and stable under braking, and never lacking that edge on the straight, he always appeared the man most likely to blunt Viñales’ charge. By lap 14 he was really up and running, exercising that top speed advantage to breeze by on the straight. His cause was really helped by the Movistar Yamaha man running wide at Bucine a lap later, gift-wrapping second for Petrucci.
There could be no question. As temperatures rose, the laps ticked by and the pace quickened further: Dovizioso posted a mid-one minute 47 second lap the 14th time around and Rossi began to tire. He had already fallen victim to Petrucci’s clean, late-braking move. The nine-time world champion’s commitment couldn’t be questioned, but he lacked that vital edge in the race’s final third, as Dovizioso went about eking out a lead. “With eight laps to go I was finished,”
said Rossi. “When you’re not 100 per cent in movement on the bike, everything becomes more difficult.”
With Petrucci now second, this was Dovizioso’s chance. His compatriot was riding the race of his life, but a run from ninth on the grid forced Petrucci into overworking his rear tyre early on. The consequences were evident five laps from home when Dovizioso’s lead exceeded one second for the first time. A famous home triumph — his first MotoGP win in the dry — awaited. But if the previous outing at Le Mans taught us one thing, it was to never write off Viñales. The Spaniard used pre-season in its entirety to work on his feeling at the end of the race, when the grip is ever decreasing, the breath shortens and the mind begins to tire. On lap 20 of 23 he was by Petrucci. Now to work on that 1.2-second gap.
But it wasn’t to be. For Dovizioso would not falter, dropping into the one minute 47 seconds on three of the final five laps as Viñales gave it one last push. By the final lap the Spaniard knew the value of 20 points, however, as thoughts turned to the championship. Coming home 1.2 s ahead, Dovizioso would have his (and Ducati’s) moment in the sun.
“I was scared to lose the energy during the race,” said Dovizioso, who jumped to second in the championship. “But I was able to ride fast in a smooth way, which made a big difference when behind Maverick. I realised nobody had a margin to be faster. To be here with Ducati in Mugello is something really special. I was crying on the podium. It was really nice.”
Viñales could ponder the cost of his mistake on lap 15, but, seeing his title lead grow from 17 to 26 points, was more than content with his day’s work. “So pleased about being second. After Friday’s crash, I was lucky to walk away. Today I tried, pushing the maximum, but Dovi was strong. I’m a rider that always prepares the last six laps to push again. Today I thought about the championship.”
Sunday was unquestionably the ride of Petrucci’s life, as he staved off Rossi’s advances for a famous third. A tearful Italian was still emotional when speaking after. “If anyone asked me what I’d give to be on the podium, I said, ‘I’d sell my house!’ To stay with Dovi I finished my rear tyre. I finished the breath. I finished the head! But at the end, I managed the podium. It’s a great day for me.” Missing the podium was “a great shame” for Rossi, who was adamant his physical condition had cost him. “The Ducatis are very good, they are able to use the medium rear. We have to use the hard, and, maybe, we have a little bit less grip but my problem was my physical condition.” Still, 1.3 s off the podium was no mean feat, all things considered.
Bautista’s fifth and holding off of
Marquez was impressive. As was his race pace. Marquez limited damage with sixth, with Zarco suffering from an afternoon temperature rise, which deprived him of the option of running the soft rear, seventh. Lorenzo, unable to use the GP17’s strengths and losing too much time mid-corner, dropped to eighth, a place ahead of Pirro. Iannone, who “lost three kilos in four days” due to a weekend sickness, was 10th.
Marquez’s sixth was a salvage job, in what was an otherwise disastrous outing for the men from HRC. Crutchlow and Pedrosa were contending 11th place on the final lap when the Spaniard lost control at Scarperia, sliding out and taking the hapless Englishman with him. Crutchlow was seen gesticulating wildly amid the haze in the gravel, and later said, “I’m pleased he lost second in the championship.”
Who said last year’s variety in the top class was a one off? Six races into the 2017 MotoGP campaign and four riders have ascended the podium’s top step.