BACK IN THE GAME
Dovi outsmarts Marquez and Lorenzo to take crucial Brno win
Andrea Dovizioso did what he does best and played it smart in Sunday’s Czech Grand Prix, leaving it until the final lap to bag an incredible Ducati win ahead of his teammate Jorge Lorenzo. Reigniting his hopes of hunting down third place finisher Marc Marquez in the title standings, the Italian’s classy race win was a result of smart thinking and not outright speed. Showing strong pace from the opening session at Brno and taking pole position for the 21-lap battle, it was clever strategy that left him perfectly placed to hold off Lorenzo as the two went head to head on the final lap. Leading the race early on but looking to be holding the rest up, Dovi was able to conserve his tyres until the end before delivering a knock-out blow to his chasing rivals.
“I decided my strategy lap by lap, as I understood my different competitors,” said Dovi. “Valentino in the first half of the race, then Marc and Jorge. I was waiting for Marc, as I could hear his engine every time I braked, but in the end it was Jorge who was fighting me for the win. It wasn’t easy because the grip dropped for everyone in the last five laps and it’s hard to judge your competitors when you’re leading. But I made my rhythm and it was a good strategy! “I didn’t even have to change the mapping of the bike all race. My speed at the end came from the way I was riding, when I decided to push and to save the tyre.” Dovi’s clever thinking saw him take pole position, the win and the fastest lap of the race (on the last lap). Now the wily Italian hopes to use the result to replicate last year when he launched a serious title challenge in the second half of the season. That should be aided by a much-improved Desmosedici. Dovizioso is adamant that the constant updates made during the first part of the season mean they’re close to creating a bike capable of challenging for the podium at every race.
“If you study every weekend you can see that our bike is better than it was last year, but we’ve made mistakes that have cost us,” Dovi added. “In three of those races where we had problems we were fighting for the podium and so we lost a lot of points. Now, after this win, we hope to keep the speed, but stop the mistakes.”
‘I could hear Marc Marquez’s engine every time I braked’
ANDREA DOVIZIOSO