- Pecco Bagnaia, Pramac Racing Team Ducati rider, climbs on the rostrum thanks to a sensational second place on his return to racing after the incident suffered in free practices at Brno.
Andrea Dovizioso finished in seventh position the Lenovo Grand Prix of San Marino and the Rimini Riviera held at Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” today. Also, thanks to Fabio Quartararo’s retirement in today’s race, the Ducati Team rider took the lead in the Championship standings, 6 points ahead of the Frenchman.
As he got off the line from the third row of the grid in ninth place, Dovizioso managed not to lose positions at the start, remaining within the group chasing the front. After Quartararo’s crash on Lap 8, the rider from Forlì tried to set his pace to close the gap on the front riders. Only towards the end of the race, he managed to finally catch the Ducati bike of Jack Miller (Pramac Racing Team), passing it on the final lap to finish in the seventh position.
Danilo Petrucci, who started from the fifteenth position on the grid, ended a difficult weekend in sixteenth place. The rider from Terni was unable to recover positions at the start losing some ground in the early stages and missing the chance to try a comeback.
After today’s race, Petrucci occupies the fifteenth position in the Championship standings with 25 points. Ducati is second in the manufactures’ standings just 6 points behind the leader, while the Ducati Team is third in the Teams’ standings.
Francesco Bagnaia – Ducati rider for the Pramac Racing Team – who has made his comeback to racing this weekend after a month from the injury sustained in a crash in free practices at Brno, and after the operation to his right tibia, brought his Ducati Desmosedici GP bike on the second step of the podium after a sensational race.
Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 7th
“It was a tough race. Since I was starting from the back, I struggled a lot to find the rhythm at the beginning. I still can’t be as competitive as I would like with these tyres and the riding style I’ve always adopted in the past years is not working right now. Fortunately, this Tuesday, we will have a day of testing here in Misano, which will be very important to try to solve this aspect. The championship this year is weird, and now we are leading the standings. We have to see the positive side of the current situation and continue to work, putting all our effort to come back stronger in the next races. I congratulate Pecco on his great performance today.”
Danilo Petrucci (#9 Ducati Team) -16th
“Today, I struggled a lot in the race. I had several contacts with a few riders at the beginning, and I couldn’t stay hooked to the leading group. As the bike got lighter with the fuel consumption, I was able to find a better pace, but by then, I was too far away to recover on the riders in front. Today’s race has allowed us to understand some aspects, and this is an indication that we will serve us for the future. Hopefully, Tuesday’s test will help us to get the situation clearer. I’m disappointed that today I couldn’t score points: I put it all into it, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.”
On Tuesday, 15th September, The Ducati Team riders will have a day of official testing at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” to then return to action on the same track from 18th- 20th September for the Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna and the Rimini Riviera.
