Andrea Dovizioso rides Ducati to Silverstone win

Andrea Dovizioso
Andrea Dovizioso

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) became the first man to win four races this season, as the Championship challenger put on a tactical masterclass once again. In a close second but unable to make a last lap lunge was Maverick Vinales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), with early leader Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) completing the podium. As well as the podium finishers, the standings took a shake up as Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was forced to retire.

It was Rossi who bolted off the line; the nine-time World Champion getting a lightning start from the middle of the front row and disappearing into the distance in the initial stages. Behind the ‘Doctor’, Marquez led a close five rider train with Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), Vinales, Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) and Dovizioso on the chase. Marquez suffered a huge moment early on, but the rider from Cervera remained in charge of the chasing pack.

Soon, the Dovizioso struck against Lorenzo and the group began to pull away from the ‘Spartan’, just as Rossi pulled away on his own at the front. The game of high-octane chess continued with the four in line and staying within touching distance of Rossi, until a sudden puff of smoke gave the Championship a serious shake up and Marquez was out of it.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]That left four, with Rossi then reeled in and everything looking like it would go down to the wire. And that it did, with Dovizioso able to pounce with three to go and get past his compatriot, swiftly followed by Vinales. The ‘Doctor’ tried to fight back but found the duo able to just stay clear – and the final lap was approaching.

With the concertina effect seeing the Ducati able to pull a gap and then the Yamaha able to close, it was incredibly tight as the two headed around the final 5.9km lap of Silverstone. Having played his hand to perfection, Dovizioso was able to keep the advantage to the line – taking his fourth win of the year. Vinales took second, with Rossi completing the podium. Crutchlow, not quite able to get close enough to make his move, took fourth.

Andrea Dovizioso leads
Andrea Dovizioso leads

Lorenzo had a great race to cross the line in fifth – and only 3.5 seconds off the race winning time of his teammate. The ‘Spartan’ overcame Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) in the latter stages to pull a sizable gap on the Frenchman over the line as he continues to move forward. Zarco took P6, comfortably ahead of a more difficult day at the office for Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team).

Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Racing) showed his home race pace once again to take eighth, with Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) equaling his best rookie result in ninth just behind the Brit. Alvaro Bautista (Pull&Bear Aspar Team), after a more difficult qualifying day, completed the top ten.

Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was hugely impressive once again for KTM, taking P11 after also getting straight through to Q2. Tito Rabat (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) followed him home, with Karel Abraham (Pull&Bear Aspar Team) and Reale Avintia Racing pairing Hector Barbera and Loris Baz locking out the fastest fifteen.

Results

Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Time/Gap
1 25 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 40'45.496
2 20 25 Maverick VIÃ'ALES SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +0.114
3 16 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +0.749
4 13 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR LCR Honda Honda +1.679
5 11 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Ducati Team Ducati +3.508
6 10 5 Johann ZARCO FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +7.001
7 9 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda +10.944
8 8 45 Scott REDDING GBR OCTO Pramac Racing Ducati +13.627
9 7 42 Alex RINS SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki +15.661
10 6 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Pull&Bear Aspar Team Ducati +25.279
11 5 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +30.336
12 4 53 Tito RABAT SPA EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda +31.609
13 3 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team Ducati +31.945
14 2 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Reale Avintia Racing Ducati +33.567
15 1 76 Loris BAZ FRA Reale Avintia Racing Ducati +33.901
16 0 43 Jack MILLER AUS EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda +43.012
17 0 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +48.683
DNF 0 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 2 Laps
DNF 0 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA OCTO Pramac Racing Ducati 3 Laps
DNF 0 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 3 Laps
DNF 0 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 7 Laps
DNF 0 22 Sam LOWES GBR Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 15 Laps

Rider Standings

Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor
1 DOVIZIOSO Andrea 4 ITA 183 Ducati Team Ducati
2 MARQUEZ Marc 93 SPA 174 Repsol Honda Team Honda
3 VINALES Maverick 25 SPA 170 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha
4 ROSSI Valentino 46 ITA 157 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha
5 PEDROSA Dani 26 SPA 148 Repsol Honda Team Honda
6 ZARCO Johann 5 FRA 109 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha
7 LORENZO Jorge 99 SPA 90 Ducati Team Ducati
8 CRUTCHLOW Cal 35 GBR 89 LCR Honda Honda
9 FOLGER Jonas 94 GER 77 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha
10 PETRUCCI Danilo 9 ITA 75 Octo Pramac Racing Ducati
11 BAUTISTA Alvaro 19 SPA 58 Pull&Bear Aspar Team Ducati
12 REDDING Scott 45 GBR 45 Octo Pramac Racing Ducati
13 ESPARGARO Aleix 41 SPA 43 Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia
14 MILLER Jack 43 AUS 43 Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda
15 BAZ Loris 76 FRA 39 Reale Avintia Racing Ducati
16 IANNONE Andrea 29 ITA 33 Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki
17 ABRAHAM Karel 17 CZE 28 Pull&Bear Aspar Team Ducati
18 RABAT Tito 53 SPA 27 Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda
19 ESPARGARO Pol 44 SPA 26 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM
20 BARBERA Hector 8 SPA 23 Reale Avintia Racing Ducati
21 RINS Alex 42 SPA 19 Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki
22 SMITH Bradley 38 GBR 8 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM
23 PIRRO Michele 51 ITA 7 Ducati Test Team Ducati
24 KALLIO Mika 36 FIN 6 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM
25 LOWES Sam 22 GBR 2 Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia
26 GUINTOLI Sylvain 50 FRA 1 Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki