He had arrived at one of his favorite tracks with the assurance of starting last on the starting grid. However, Andrea Iannone did the job with a Ducati that he drove hard on the Assen track, scene of the eighth round of the MotoGP championship. He finished fifth in this edition of the Dutch Grand Prix to the unexpected winner after a remarkable performance by the Desmosedici.
Fifth in such circumstances and weighed down by a heavy handicap from the start, it's not so bad. Now, the Ducatis were at the party during a first part of the race led by the explosive Yonny Hernandez on a GP14.2 while Dovizioso with the GP16 not only countered the Yamaha Red but the Pramac satellite machines. Debates in which the Maniac would have liked to participate, but he was already busy elsewhere: “ after the first start, I moved up to tenth after only two laps » says the man who will be a Suzuki official next year. “ It was very good and my feelings had improved since Saturday. But the situation was still complicated because the track was really slippery ". After getting rid of the official Hondas, this famous track called him to order: “ I made a mistake and fell. The track was changing every lap and I tried setting the traction control differently. But I lost the rear ».
Game over ? No, the race was interrupted just after, for a second chance: “ I came back to the pits and the team did a magnificent job to give me a good bike for the second race ". Where everything had to be redone since the starting position this time was the seventeenth plot. “The situation was different because we took the soft rear. The pace was good but I didn't get up as quickly as the first time. However, we managed better ". By that, mean without a fall, with a finish in fifth place.
Meanwhile, Redding stood on the podium and was therefore the best Ducati representative. But Dovizioso, who was aiming for victory, had fallen for the count. As a result, in the championship, even if the best “Ducatist” still remains Barbera, it is now well and truly Iannone who is the best classified of the official drivers with 52 points, synonymous with seventh position overall. “ This year, we have a really good bike, but sometimes it's more complicated on certain tracks like Barcelona. Some tracks are good, others not. But I think it's the same for everyone. We haven't completely closed the gap on Honda and Yamaha but Ducati has worked very well this year. I was surprised by our level at Assen which is a difficult track for us. This time we were quick and it bodes well for the future. ". It will be recalled that before the race, the same Iannone had dominated the debates on Friday as well as the warm-up.
