In a way, Dovi could be disappointed to have only been able to finish fifth at Assen, even though he had come back like a plane to the group of leaders. A second moment, he could hope for better. But the consolation prize was magnificent, with now first position in the provisional ranking of the World Championship.
The Dutch weekend could not have started in a more disastrous way for Dovi, when he exploded an engine barely out of the pits during the first free practice session. To say that qualifying afterwards was a rose garden would be clearly an exaggeration, when Andrea found himself face down in the Dutch slush following a fall in Q2. He thus qualified in ninth position, which was still less worse than the eleventh place of his main opponent in the Championship. Maverick Vinales.
In seventh position at the end of the first lap, Dovi made short work ofAndrea Iannone, swallowed Scott Redding, then saw Maverick Vinales fall in front of him. At the halfway point, Dovi was fifth, 4.6 behind the leading group including Rossi, Marquez, Zarco and Petrucci. By the 18th lap, he was at 2.5. And lo and behold, in the 20th, he was second, 0.1 behind Rossi!
If it hadn't rained, perhaps we wouldn't have had to look elsewhere for the winner. But it started to rain and Dovi took stock. Vinales on the ground, facing Rossi then fifth in the Championship and Petrucci even further back, the game was not worth the effort. Being the leader of the World Championship was well worth a fifth place and Dovi managed as the new strong man in the Championship.
According to Andrea Dovizioso, “ Today's race was very difficult because I had to start from the third row. At first I couldn't be very flexible and I lost contact with the leading group, but I stayed focused to see where I could catch up, and when Viñales fell in front of me, I redoubled my efforts to return to the group of leaders.
“At that moment I was the fastest on the track and that's a good sign for our bike. When I got back to the leaders it started to rain, but you couldn't really see where the track was dry and where it wasn't.
“For this reason I did not want to take any risks and I tried to finish the race in the best possible way to score valuable points for the championship.
“We come home at the top of the standings and it's a new emotion for me because I've never been at the top in MotoGP. I want to thank my whole team because this weekend we managed to work very well and despite the constantly changing weather conditions we made the right decisions, we stayed calm and in the end it all paid off. »
Dutch Grand Prix results:
1- Valentino Rossi – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1 – 26 laps
2- Danilo Petrucci – OCTO Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 0.063
3- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 5.201
4- Cal Crutchlow – LCR Honda – Honda RC213V – + 5.243
5- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 5.327
6- Jack Miller – Marc VDS 0.0 EG – Honda RC213V – 23,390 +
7- Karel Abraham – Pull & Bear Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP15 – 36,982 +
8- Loris Baz – Royal Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP15 – 37,058 +
9- Andrea Iannone – Ecstar Team Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-RR – 37,166 +
10- Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Aprilia RS-GP – + 1'01.929
11- Pol Espargaro – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16 – + 1’09.384
12- Tito Rabat – EG 0.0 Marc VDS – Honda RC213V – + 1’10.121
- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 1’10.344
14- Johann Zarco – Monster Yamaha to Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1’35.655
15- Jorge Lorenzo – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP at 1 lap
16- Hector Barbera – Royal Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP at 1 lap
17- Alex Rins – Team Suzuki Ecstar – Suzuki GSX-RR 1 lap
Provisional ranking of the World Championship:
1 Andrea DOVIZIOSO-Ducati 115 points
2 Maverick VIÑALES-Yamaha 111
3 Valentino ROSSI-Yamaha 108
4 Marc MARQUEZ-Honda 104
5 Dani PEDROSA-Honda 87
6 Johann ZARCO-Yamaha 77
7 Danilo PETRUCCI-Ducati 62
8 Jorge LORENZO-Ducati 60
9 Cal CRUTCHLOW-Honda 58
10 Jonas FOLGER-Yamaha 51
11 Jack MILLER-Honda 40
12 Alvaro BAUTISTA-Ducati 34
13 Scott REDDING-Ducati 33
14 Loris BAZ-Ducati 31
15 Andrea IANNONE-Suzuki 28
16 Aleix ESPARGARO-Aprilia 23
17 Tito RABAT-Honda 23
18 Hector BARBERA-Ducati 21
19 Karel ABRAHAM-Ducati 20
20 Pol ESPARGARO-KTM 11
