Andrea Dovizioso from Repsol Honda ends up in fifth place at Indianapolis – MotoGP news
Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso crossed the finish line in fifth place after a tough race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The Italian rider was held off by homeboy Nicky Hayden through some laps which affected his effort for the podium finish.
Dovizioso said, “I can’t be happy with today’s result because our target was the podium and gaining some points on Lorenzo, but we also have to look at the positives and I'm pleased I managed a 1’40.1 lap time, my fastest of the race on my final lap.”
Dovizioso started the race from second row and raced along Ben Spies, Marco Simoncelli and Colin Edwards. From the start off Nicky Hayden also hopped into the battle for fourth position.
Dovizioso said, “Considering the demanding conditions of this track and the hot temperatures, this lap time shows that we were fast even at the end. We had a bad start, Nicky (Hayden) blocked me and then Ben (Spies) and I touched in turn four and I lost
valuable time.”
During his tussle with both American riders, he lost positions in the race. However, he gradually gained the confidence and managed to regain his lost positions.
After the qualifying session, the race was expected to be tough and it was even tougher, because of the greasy tarmac and high temperatures. The track did not allow the tyres to grip and high temperatures wore the slicks quicker.
The Italian Repsol rider also added that the race was weird as in the initial laps, the bike suffered from rear grip issues and could not be pushed hard. On the other side the front end of the bike was closing a lot as Stoner also claimed the same issue
when he almost crashed out.
After a few laps, he managed to adapt a suitable rider style according to track conditions. Then Dovizioso struggled to maximise the usage of the tyres and keep his pace steady throughout the race.
Dovizioso is still competitive and aims to play hard at his home event closing up on next weekend at Misano, Italy.
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