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MotoGP, Dovizioso: The Championship is not lost, anything could still happen

Andrea reveals: "The seventh place finish? The tyres have nothing to do with it. I was lacking speed on three corners and I was unable to overtake"

MotoGP: Dovizioso: The Championship is not lost, anything could still happen

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It is a black and bitter Sunday, because Andrea Dovizioso’s chase for the title is an uphill battle. In Aragón, the Borgo Panigale rider had to race on the defensive, settling for a seventh place finish. Besides this seventh place, the sixteen points lost to the winner, namely Marc Marquez, weigh as heavy as a millstone.

It was not a simple weekend - the Italian admitted - Unfortunately I was slow on three corners and this aspect conditioned the end result since it kept me from being fully prepared for the race. Not working on Friday unfortunately had a heavy impact on us, more than it did on other teams - he reminded - In fact, the tyre choice was not the problem.”

In fact, Dovi explains the cause of the problems.

“Not having the speed, after ten laps I had to stress the rear tyre - he revealed - wearing it down too quickly. Unfortunately, as I said, I was slow on three corners, 10-15-17. On turn 10 our bike didn’t work like the others, whereas on 15 we struggled in acceleration. On this track, with poor grip, I did not have the cards to play, so I had to limit the damage.”

Re-watching the race, you can see how the Italian struggled to overtake.

“Even in the battle with Rossi I could have been faster - he pointed out - but I was unable to overtake because I was losing too much in various points.”

The disappointment is great for Dovi, there is no doubt about that.

“It’s a pity to have left some points behind - he said - but there are still four races left. It is not easy with Marc and Maverick, but I have the potential to make a play for it and I’ll try down to the end.”

Against this Marquez it seems like there is little to be done. In fact, number 93 has won four out of the last six races.

The competitiveness of Marquez is plain for everyone to see - the Ducati rider admitted - He and the Honda have improved since the beginning of the season, but so have we. Now we are 16 points behind him, but anything can happen.”

It would seem that the Honda has a little something more than the Red with the hard tyre.

“Sometimes using the hard can be a limit and other times it can be an advantage - he commented - A lot depends on the conditions we find. This weekend, the soft definitely did not help us.”

As for the battle for the world championship, Dovi prefers not to make predictions.

“I don’t want to make predictions - he reiterated - It is impossible; I’ve been saying that all year. There are a lot of fast riders. Marc will certainly be competitive, but that does not mean that we can’t also be competitive.”

The last comment is about Rossi’s performance.

“I saw a lot of determination on his part at the beginning of the race. He surprised me - he explained - I think he had a decline in performance after that and he began to struggle. The Hondas definitely had more traction.”

Translated by Jonathan Blosser
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