The Austrian Grand Prix, the fifth round of the 2020 MotoGP season, was held at the Red Bull Ring on August 16, and Ducati Team's Andrea Dovizioso took a stunning victory to give Ducati its 50th MotoGP win.
Ducati, based in Bologna, Italy, has won at the circuit for five consecutive years since the Red Bull Ring returned to the race calendar in 2016.
Dovizioso takes victory and second place in the riders' standings
Dovizioso started the race from fourth on the grid. Dovizioso started the race from fourth on the grid and after just a few laps he was up to second place before an accident on lap nine forced the race to be suspended. Dovizioso was then forced to start from the first row of the grid when the red flag came out. Dovizioso was able to hold onto the lead group for a few weeks, running second to Jack Miller (Pramac Racing Team) before taking the lead on lap 11 and never relinquishing it.
The win was Dovizioso's third at the Red Bull Ring and he is now second in the championship standings. The win was Dovizioso's third at the Red Bull Ring and moves him back into second place in the riders' standings. Dovizioso is now just 11 points behind leader Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha). Miller, riding a Ducati Desmosedici for the Pramac Racing Team, finished third despite being passed by Joan Mir on the last lap.
Teammate Danilo Petrucci, who started 13th on the grid, finished seventh and scored valuable points. Petrucci is now 11th in the riders' standings.
At the end of the first four races of the 2020 season (the opening round in Qatar was not held in the highest class), Ducati is second in the manufacturer's standings and third in the team standings.
The sixth round of the MotoGP season, the Styrian Grand Prix, will be held a week later, from August 21-23, at the same Red Bull Ring as this one.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) 1st
It was a very different race to the usual one because of the interruption caused by the big crash between Zarco (Johan: Ducati) and Morbidelli (Franco: Yamaha). I didn't have a particularly good feeling with the machine today but I was able to go fast in certain sections and make a difference to my rivals. We had a good start to the weekend but I wasn't convinced we could win the race. In the race I was aggressive right from the start and got a good feeling but compared to last year's race I still feel like I'm missing something. This track suits the characteristics of the Desmosedici GP machine but we need to continue to improve the machine so that we can fight for the win in all the races that are coming up.
Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team #09) 7th
We knew from the start that it was going to be a difficult race today. The confusion on the opening lap cost me a couple of positions. Unfortunately, I didn't have a perfect feeling with the machine. I'm still having problems with the brakes and I couldn't ride the way I wanted to. We had a good pace in the race today but we lost a lot of ground on the front group. We took some valuable points home for the championship but it's important to get a good grid position in qualifying so we can be in contention from the start at the next race.
Luigi Dall'Igna (Ducati Corse General Manager)
It's been a difficult race since the start of the season so this win means a lot to me. It was a different story today with the race being suspended. Dovizioso proved to me that the machine is very competitive and fast. After the restart the track conditions were different but we had a few things to look at beforehand and we changed the front tire, which was a good decision because it meant we were able to get the machine back on track. I want to congratulate Dovi and the whole team for doing a great job this weekend. We want to keep this fighting spirit going for the next races and also until the end of the season.
Original Source [ Ducati ]
