DOVI STILL GP TOP DOG!
• Off-form Ducati man clings on to series lead
Slowest title race ever?
Nobody was more shocked than Andrea Dovizioso who kept the lead in a crazy and unpredictable MotoGP title fight which took another dramatic twist in Misano.
Just four points split the top four riders at the halfway stage, with Dovizioso somehow protecting a slender series lead, despite an eighth place capping another mediocre display.
Dovi has missed the top six in the last two races but in a chaotic season, he is one point ahead of Yamaha duo Maverick Viñales and Fabio Quartararo and only four clear of an in-form Suzuki man Joan Mir heading into Barcelona this weekend.
Dovizioso said: “I laugh when I look at the standings because I am first but going so slowly.
“We are still fighting for the championship, which is so strange when you consider my recent results. Anything can happen but my speed isn’t there to fight. The way I’ve ridden for the last three years doesn’t work with this new rear Michelin. And that means I’m not in a situation to fight and that is very frustrating and disappointing.”
Ducati’s wildly contrasting fortunes in Misano 2 perfectly summed up the bizarre nature of this year’s title battle, which has seen six different winners and 12 different podium finishers in just seven races.
Jack Miller lost crucial ground in the title chase, although he is only 20-points adrift, despite having three DNFs in seven.
The Aussie retired with rotten luck when a visor tear off from Fabio Quartararo got sucked into the airbox of his Ducati GP20, blocking the air filter and forcing him to retire.
Miller was so angry he stormed out of the paddock without even speaking to the media.
And Pramac Ducati teammate Pecco Bagnaia blew a golden chance to win his first MotoGP in another weird incident.
He was over a second clear of Viñales with just six laps remaining when he slid out at turn six, saying afterwards: “The crash was so strange. I was completely controlling Maverick and being smart and the crash was incredible. My speed was the same, throttle position the same, my lean angle the same and also my line, so it looks like I’ve touched something like a tear off. I can’t explain the crash.
“I’m so disappointed because this was a great chance to win and losing a race like that is very difficult to accept.”