It had been 2 days since Dovizioso had tasted the joys of victory. A hell of a lease that goes back to a British Grand Prix at Donington in 653. This achievement, in many ways, Dovi had to materialize it. And firstly because it was necessary for him to definitively mark his territory at Ducati before the arrival of Lorenzo.
At Ducati, there are not that many winners in MotoGP. Capirossi, Bayliss, Stoner et Iannone. Until this Sepang race, these were the only names on the list. We can now add Dovizioso, the very one which was preferred to Iannone to evolve alongside a Lorenzo in front of whom Ducati rolled out the red carpet.
This victory in 2016 is therefore not insignificant in view of 2017. It was time to make it happen, with only two events left on the calendar before the new era at Ducati. And then, it was also the season or never, an open campaign which has already highlighted eight drivers: Lorenzo, Márquez, Red, Miller, Iannone, Crutchlow, Casa Particular in Viñales et Pedrosa are now joined by a ninth: Dovizioso !
For all these reasons, the one who nicknames himself “DesmoDovi” had to be among the winners of the year. And in his end-of-game commentary, the Italian is not mistaken: “ I finally won a race for Ducati. From now on our goal will be to start from this base to fight for the championship in 2017. This is very important for the future ". A message addressed to Por Fuera and legitimacy claimed from Gigi Dall'Igna.
On his course Dovizioso comments: “ the race was very difficult. From the outside it might have seemed like I had everything under control, but that wasn't the reality. The first part of the test was complicated because there was a lot of water. Iannone and Valentino were very fast. But I held on and didn't make any mistakes, which allowed him to be there at the end of the race ».
« I'm really happy because the bike worked perfectly. I was able to ride at the same pace from start to finish and that's a very important lesson. This weekend was excellent, we were there during the practice sessions, qualifying and the race. Everything was perfect. It's a nice feeling and I'm happy to have won here in Malaysia which is one of the most beautiful tracks on the calendar. I had never been victorious here, whether in 125cc or 250cc ».
Before finishing, the 2004 World Champion admitted his relief. Expected in 2015 at Mugello, hoped for at Assen and in Austria this year, he finally honored his appointment with victory, for his fourth campaign with Ducati: “ The hardest was in Austria. I was deeply disappointed. After qualifying, I was convinced that victory awaited me. But we made a bad tire choice. This defeat was difficult to swallow ". Especially since the winner had been the teammate Iannone. With this second career achievement and this thirty-fourth podium, the 30-year-old driver is now fifth in the championship.
