The Standpoint

Dovizioso breaks jinx at Donington Park

By

Abhishek Mukherjee

Andrea Dovizioso rode his Repsol Honda with courage to win in slippery conditions at Donington Park to finally break shackles and register his maiden MotoGP victory. Pole-sitter Rossi pushed to fifth after a tumble at two-thirds distance to extend his lead over teammate Jorge Lorenzo as MotoGP bid farewell to the Leicesteshire circuit here on July 26.

Dovizioso took victory by a little over a second. The 22-year old Italian could not hide his ecstasy.

“In the final two laps it was very hard to judge where the track was wet and where it was dry but I kept it going and knew that the two behind me were trying to attack. I pushed on as hard as I could, and am really happy to have managed all of the situations that came up during that race with the rains – for me this is emotional, unbelievable,” he said.

Colin Edwards of Team Yamaha took second place from French rider Randy de Puniet, who managed his first podium finish since 2007. He is now eighth in the standings.

From tenth on the grid and eighth for most part of the race, de Puniet gained four places in five laps and began a thrilling battle for third with factory Honda rider Dani Pedrosa, whom he finally shook off with ten of the 30 laps to go.

At the same time Valentino Rossi crashed from the lead, putting de Puniet second only to ultimate winner Dovizioso, whose ten-second advantage de Puniet was soon eating into.

With three laps to go, he came within 0.8 seconds of Dovizioso. Although he was passed in the final turn of the final lap by Colin Edwards, de Puniet was more than happy with a third place finish.

“It's like a dream for me and the Team!” said an elated de Puniet. “It has been a very stressful race and I was very nervous on the grid as the conditions were pretty bad. I got a good start on slick tyres and was very aggressive in the first laps. I got the sixth place but the gap on the front riders was too wide and I thought to keep my pace without taking any risk.

I am so happy for this result and want to thank everybody especially Lucio (Cecchinello – team manager). We are sharing an amazing moment together!”

It was only the second victory for a Repsol Honda rider this season. Team Yamaha has been supreme as last year – 140 points clear at the top of the standings. Eight time champion Rossi now has a 25-point lead over teammate Lorenzo, and a further 12 points over Ducati’s Aussie Casey Stoner.

The next race is in the Czech Republic on August 16.