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He is kicking himself now. Andrea Dovizioso threw the Grand Prix of France to the wind, just as he had managed to move into the lead. It was an exit that burns – the second after the smash-up in Jerez – so much that it drops him to almost 50 points in the overall championship standings behind the leader, Marc Marquez.
“It’s difficult, very difficult for me to metabolise a mistake like that. It is not like Dovizioso – the Italian began – I didn’t think that I could lose the bike at that moment. For me, what happened is unacceptable, truly stupid.”
The Ducati rider is therefore not making excuses; to the contrary he is admitting mea culpa.
“When you have more speed than the others like today, throwing away the race like that is unacceptable – he reiterated – I cannot afford to make these mistakes if I want to battle for the title with Marquez. I apologise to the team. This crash was not what we needed. It can happen when you’re at the limit, but not when you have the situation in hand.”
Just before taking the lead, Andrea had been battling with Lorenzo.
“I wanted to overtake Jorge because he was riding like at Jerez and I had Zarco behind me – he recalled – Among other things, Johann is not a nice rival. The only think that I cared about was getting past Jorge, without anything specific in mind, plus I could tell Johann was rather agitated, whereas Marc was struggling.”
After the disappointment, now all he can do is look forward.
“We need to behave like this through the end of the season – Andrea advised – also because we are super-fast. Right now, I am unable to get over the anger. Our competitiveness is certainly the most important thing in the championship.”
However, Dovizioso cannot simply throw in the towel.
“Right now there are a lot of points to recover, but it is not over yet, partly because we are at the beginning of the season and there are still a lot of points up for grabs.”
Given the Ducati’s competitiveness in France, one might wonder if now the ‘Red’ will show its value on other tracks too.
“I can’t say that yet, because there has not yet been a radical change – he analysed – We need to work one step at a time on the weekend, also because we don’t have the proper comparisons. The sensations are definitely better than a year ago.”
In any case, one thing is certain: closing the gap behind Marquez will not be simple.
“Marc is able to manage any situation – Dovi admitted – He is making the difference and that is clear. But beyond this, it has to be said that there are several strong riders every Sunday.”
The final comment, on the other hand, has to do with the Grand Prix of Italy.
“It’s hard to talk about Mugello now – he concluded – The Hondas absolutely flew there in the tests last week, but I must also say that in the end, when Sunday arrives, we also always manage to be fast like Marc. We will certainly be fast in Italy – how fast, I don’t know – partly because different things happen in every race.”
