When you start from fifteenth position for a Grand Prix that you finish in fourth place, you can legitimately be inhabited by the honest feeling of the work accomplished. This journey was accomplished by Scott Redding and yet, the Briton is not very happy when taking stock of his German Grand Prix where he invited himself to the feast of the contenders for victory. But when it was time for dessert, the dishes were taken away. Which obviously leaves a taste of unfinished business.
After Assen, the Pramac Ducati riders once again demonstrated their dexterity in adapting to wet track conditions. We will not forget that, for nine rounds, it is Danilo Petrucci who led the dance, while his teammate moved up the peloton after a failed start. The same one that stopped shortly after Iannone to fit intermediate tires when the track began to dry. Not so bad timing since Scott found himself second heading into the finish.
But so much Crutchlow which Dovizioso did not want to give him the opportunity to take advantage of a second podium in a row after the one won at Assen. First there was the attack by his compatriot from LCR equipped with slicks. Quite manly: “ Cal and I were side by side on the straight and when it was time to brake, there wasn't much space between us. He was on slick, so he was going to beat me ". The case Dovizioso, equipped with front intermediate and rear slick, just after, was a surprise: “ I didn't imagine him so close to me. He completely dropped me with his top speed. I could not do anything. I was already spinning a lot when accelerating ».
Two attacks suffered which pushed him off the podium. For 2.135s and 379 thousandths only. Infuriating certainly, but over the last three years, the Englishman has qualified fourteenth twice and fifteenth once and had one eleventh place and one retirement before being in this leading quartet. Something to put into perspective because he takes his revenge on a Sachsenring which does not suit him: “ I lost time at the start, about a second, then another second in an off-line excursion when I had just taken the bike in intermediates. These are things that also mattered. I suppose I must be happy and it is true that if you had told me on Saturday that I would finish fourth on Sunday, I would never have believed you ».
It will be noted that Redding does not deny the choice of intermediate tires: “ it wasn't a bad choice. Maybe I changed too soon. But if I had taken slicks I would have taken more time to familiarize myself with them. I changed when there were eleven or ten laps left and I couldn't communicate with the pits. If everyone had used intermediaries, there would have been no problems. But Crutchlow and Márquez took slicks. As far as I'm concerned, I didn't encounter any tire problems. It must be recognized ". Those who had taken slicks in these conditions and the speed with which they adapted to this new equipment were the ingredients for victory at the Sachsenring.
