ANDREA’S NO MUG!
MOTOGP Ducati enjoy a big home win
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ANDREA DOVIZIOSO gave Italian team Ducati an emotional victory in their home race at Mugello.
It was a success against the odds as Dovizioso fought a sickness bug that had kept him out of the warm-up session.
But he shrugged off a dodgy stomach to battle on in a four-rider scrap for supremacy before making the decisive move with 10 laps remaining.
Dovizioso powered ahead of series leader Maverick Vinales and then managed the race to take his third victory in the elite series by 1.281secs.
He said: “There is a lot of emotion. I woke at four in the morning and was very sick and was feeling not so good, my energy was not so good.
“My bike was good but I didn’t know what I could do in the race. But I tried, pushed hard to get ahead and then it was enough to stay in front.
“It is a dream come true to win here on a Ducati. This is such a big sensation.”
Adding to his delight, the victory moved him into second place in the title stakes, 26 points down on Vinales.
Dovizioso, coming through from the third row of the grid, was running fourth on the opening lap as local favourite Valentino Rossi led.
Rossi, fighting the pain from injuries sustained in a training crash, lost the lead on the fourth lap to Movistar Yamaha team-mate Vinales, with Dovizioso also easing through.
Vinales was looking strong but Dovizioso was riding hard, using the Ducati power to the full, and once ahead, there was no catching him.
Rossi was pipped for third by Pramac Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci, who secured his first podium finish of the season.
Fourth was enough to keep Rossi in third place in the title standings.
Alvaro Bautista finished fifth ahead of reigning champion Marc Marquez.
His Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa tipped off in an attempted overtaking move on Cal Crutchlow, sending the luckless LCR Honda rider tumbling into the gravel as well.
Scott Redding, aboard the Pramac Ducati, was the top Brit, finishing 12th.