Pretty weird weekend for Ducati MotoGP with unidentified problems during race

Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci finished eleventh and twelfth respectively in the Czech GP held today at Brno Circuit.

The rider from Forlì, who started from the sixth row of the grid after qualifying in eighteenth place yesterday, managed to recover some positions immediately after the start, placing himself in the group fighting for the top ten with his teammate Petrucci and Jack Miller (Pramac Racing Team). As the tyres started to drop their performance in the second part of the race, Andrea couldn’t push further and stayed in the eleventh position until the finish line. After today’s race, Dovizioso sits in the fourth position of the championship standings, tied with Franco Morbidelli in third place.

Danilo Petrucci also had a tight race today. The Ducati Team rider, who started from Row 3 with the eighth fastest time, failed to stay with the riders at the front and dropped back into fourteenth place after a few laps. Towards the end of the race, the rider from Terni managed to recover till twelfth position where he finished behind his teammate. After the race in Brno, Danilo is fifteenth in the overall standings, while Ducati occupies the third position in the manufacturers’ classification. The Ducati Team is currently fourth in the team standings.

Johan Zarco, rider of the team Esponsorama Racing, took his first podium onboard the Ducati Desmosedici GP bike. The Frenchman was third in Brno after starting from pole position and despite having to go through a questionable “long lap penalty” that had probably prevailed him from finishing in a well-deserved second position.

Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 11th
“It was a pretty weird weekend. Unfortunately, we have not yet identified the reason for our problems. Today the tyres have been affected a lot by the wear, and they didn’t allow us to express ourselves to our best, but still, we don’t know if were the tyres that made the big difference today in the race.  On the other hand, Zarco has been the protagonist of a great weekend, and this allows us to have some data to analyze to understand the situation better.”

Danilo Petrucci (#9 Ducati Team) – 12th
“We knew it was going to be a tough Sunday, but I didn’t expect to be that slow at the beginning. Unfortunately, I suffered a lot from the lack of grip, a problem that we’ve had all weekend. I struggled so much to keep a good pace throughout the race. Today I put it all into it without being able to get a good result, so now we have to look forward. Luckily, next week we will already have a chance to redeem ourselves, as we will be racing again in Austria”.

The Ducati Team will be back on track in less than a week for the Austrian GP, scheduled from 14th to 16th August 2020 at the Red Bull Ring near Zeltweg.

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