Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso sustains third position in championship after Australian GP – MotoGP
Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso finished third ahead of teammate Dani Pedrosa at the Iveco Australian Grand Prix which benefited him to uphold his third place in the 2011 MotoGP World Championship.
Pedrosa was low on pace and crossed the finish line at the fourth place.
The Italian rider was able to retake a podium finish since his last at Brno event. It is his second finish at third place in the season, first being at Assen. Dovizioso has taken second place on podium in four events in the 2011 season.
Dovizioso said, “It was a difficult race as we expected, this track is very tricky, as are the weather conditions. To return on the podium and arrive in front of Dani here at Phillip Island is a very good result for us and it was our target before getting
here.”
The Italian Repsol Honda rider reckoned that he had a shot to finish second on the podium. However, Pedrosa’s overtake in mid race slowed down Dovizioso. This caused him to lose contact with Marco Simoncelli.
As the rain struck the track, Dovizioso shortened the gap from Simoncelli and eventually overtook him. Later as the rain stopped, Simoncelli was able to take back his second position through the final line. In the last few laps, he was out of grip and could
not push further.
He further added that he and Dani will be fighting for third place in the championship until the end of the season. He also assumes that Pedrosa will be strong in the last two races.
He also congratulated to his teammate Casey Stoner for winning the season title at his home ground on his birthday.
Pedrosa said, “It's been very tough today, I didn't feel comfortable throughout the weekend and the race didn't start in the best way either. I had a problem with the wind at the start, I almost lost balance and I had to put the left foot on the floor at
the same time as the red light went out.”
The Spaniard had a bad start which cost him to lose the podium place. After few laps, he was able to improve his lap times.
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