If we had told him on Saturday, at the end of qualifying which ended prematurely in Q1 with a thirteenth place, that he would find himself, the next day, at the foot of the podium in a race which would give him control of the championship, Andrea Dovizioso would have had a good laugh. And yet, that's exactly what happened. From a stage which could have been delicate for the rest of the season, Austin transformed into a bridgehead towards the crown, furthermore boosting the morale of the Ducati troops who can believe in a lucky star.
Because this Grand Prix of the Americas will have been a Honda cemetery. Crutchlow, Márquez et Lorenzo, for technical reasons, did not see the checkered flag. During this time, Miller climbed onto the podium, Dovizioso scored 13 valuable points and Petrucci came close to the top 5. From the start, things were looking good for DesmoDovi who explains: “ In the morning I woke up well, I was ready to fight. My start was so good. The track was empty in front of me! I was able to do everything I planned until the first turn. And the other drivers did exactly what I wanted. That's how I got myself into a perfect position. I was able to overtake two other drivers on the first lap. I couldn't have imagined a better start-up phase. But at the start, the speed was not enough to enter the group that was fighting behind Marc. That's why I missed the podium. Our start-up assistance system has made things easier, I'm very happy about it ».
“Dovi” announced on Saturday that he had a pace with which he could fight for second place behind Marc Márquez, but unfortunately he had to start from the fifth row. “ Victory was out of reach today as I lost feeling in the front tire after four laps. I almost crashed in turn 10 “, said Winnow Ducati rider. “ It only slowed me down in fast corners. For this reason I couldn't take the lead, even though my start was incredible. I put myself in a perfect position from the start. But I lacked a little speed. It was a very bad phase, because I lost a lot of seconds. I remained calm and in the fight against Morbidelli, who then overtook me, I thought about where I should ride smoothly and acted betterr ».
A reflection which led him to make a discovery: “ I saw that in turn 10, there was a wet spot on the ideal line. Since it never rained on Sunday, the water must have gotten underneath. Turn 10 is the only curve they resurfaced for 2019...Those wet spots weren't there in the morning. I then changed lines there and then my feeling came back, although I still lost time in the fast corners. In the fight against Morbidelli, I saw that I was really faster than him. So I doubled it again. I then found an excellent rhythm. I was riding times similar to the fastest riders. This is the positive part of the race. Too bad I lost too much time in the four laps. It's annoying. But ultimately my speed was good, even though the rear tire was wearing out. I saw that Jack Miller was slowing down a bit, so I pushed 100% to the checkered flag. But then he was almost a second short of third place. Unfortunately, I missed a half turn ».
« But we must be happy. There are positive and negative aspects after this Grand Prix " said Dovi. “ The positive points outweigh the first, firstly because I am leader of the championship, that's very good. And Marc's crash shows that he doesn't have everything under control. It's good for us. Because in the first two races he drove like crazy, he was very fast. For the championship, the result of Texas is very positive. We showed good pace and proved that we had progressed compared to 2018. On a track that always gave us problems ».
Next stop in Jerez, where the Ducati feels better…
