Dovizioso storms to victory in tense last lap battle

To round off a fantastic day of exciting racing, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) took his third victory of the season, after a tense race long battle with Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team).

It was actually Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) who took the early lead, managing to create a gap within the first two sectors. But Marquez was on the hunt, and slowly made up time on Lorenzo who was storming away in front. Dovizioso wasn’t far behind either, and was constantly attacking Marquez, finally getting the better of him just a few laps in. 

Marquez and Dovizioso really did take it down to the wire, constantly passing the lead between each other. It came down to an extremely tense final lap, but it looked like Dovizioso’s victory going over the line into the final lap. Marquez made a last ditch attempt to take the victory on the final corner but ran it wide, almost forcing the two of them off the track completely.

In the end, Dovizioso had the edge by an extremely close margin. Marquez had to settle for second, with his team mate Dani Pedrosa rounding out the podium. 

By far, the stand out performances of the weekend were from Lorenzo, Loris Baz (Reale Avintia Racing) and Mika Kallio (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing). The way Lorenzo held his own at the front is something we haven’t seen for a long time.

It was great to see the old Lorenzo back, and a fourth place finish is exactly what he needs to boost his confidence. Loris Baz too held his own, coming under attack from the likes of Alvaro Bautista (Pull&Bear Aspar Team) and Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki Ecstar).

Baz kept it steady, and came over the line in ninth to prove to his team that he should be keeping his ride next year, something that is currently in doubt. Kallio is KTM’s test rider, and he outperformed both of the full time KTM factory racers. Kallio finished in tenth, a massive achievement for not only the team, but also for the man who wants a full time ride in the future.

The MotoGP circus will roll into Silverstone for the British GP in two weeks time, and we hope that the fantastic racing we’ve seen today will continue into round twelve.

Race Result: