Dovizioso rode to his second win of the season this Sunday after a most exciting race at the Brno Automodrom for the Czech GP. Following a final three-way fight with team-mate Lorenzo and leader Marquez, the two from Ducati made it to the top of the podium with just 0.178 seconds between them. Reigning champion, Marc Marquez, for whom this was his MotoGP 100th race, had to settle for third place.

There was drama from the very beginning at Brno, as Dovizioso, who started in pole position, seemingly jumped the start ahead of Rossi and Marquez, and stewards had to review the footage to determine whether any sanctions were due. They finally concluded that the Italian, who was also celebrating his 100th race with Ducati, had not benefited from the situation and took no further action.

The high track temperature made for a slower than normal race and was harsh on the tyres, many pilots struggling to hold their grip as a result. At the end of the first lap, the drama continued with a frightening three-way crash between Maverick Viñales from Yamaha, Stefan Bradl from HRC and Bradley Smith from KTM. Thankfully none of the pilots was hurt as a result, although all of them had to abandon the race.

Rossi and Dovizioso alternated the lead of a very compact first half. On lap 10, six pilots escaped the pack to form a leading group. The electrifying battle for the win, however, would only come in the last few laps. Lorenzo first tried really hard to take the win from his team-mate and, as Dovizioso proved insurmountable, he was left fighting against compatriot Marquez for second position. Three seconds behind, Rossi was taking over Crutchlow and becoming at the same time the first pilot to have ever accrued 6000 points in a MotoGP career.

After this result, Dovizioso moves up to third position in the standings. These were his words as he spoke to the media after the race, visibly overjoyed: “I’m happy with the way I managed that, also because we were fighting with the grip. So, it wasn’t just about speed, but speed and the sliding (…) Jorge was there and Marc was there but I had the feeling they were on the limit like me so my strategy worked”.

This World Championship just got a bit more exciting after this, somehow unexpected result. One can only guess what is going to happen next week at the Red Bull ring for the AustrianGP.

Standings 

1) Marc Marquez, SPA Repsol Honda, 181 points

2) Valentino Rossi, ITA Movistar Yamaha, 132 points (-49)

3) Andrea Dovizioso, ITA Ducati Team, 113 points (-68)

4) Maverick Viñales, SPA Movistar Yamaha, 109 points (-72)

5) Jorge Lorenzo, SPA Ducati Team, 105 points (-76)

By T.C. |Photo:www.motogp.com