The factory Ducati team will be glad to see the back of the 2017 Argentina Grand Prix, as an already difficult weekend ended in a disastrous double DNF.
Both Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso had to go through the first part of qualifying having failed to make the top 10 at the end of FP3. A wet QP1 presented a golden opportunity for both, as the Desmosedici is a famously strong motorcycle in damp conditions.
However, both missed the cut and were stranded in 13th and 16th respectively. The podium was out of reach, but both believed a decent salvage operation could have been mounted in the 25-lap contest.
Lorenzo race lasted all of one corner. Feeling as if he had top six potential, Lorenzo rocketed off the line and made up a handful of positions by Turn 1. But he ran into the back of Suzuki’s Andrea Iannone and his race was ended on the spot.
“I had made a great start and managed to pass four or five riders, but coming into the first corner it was all rather chaotic, with a lot of riders trying to overtake each other under braking,” said Lorenzo.
“I was on the inside and suddenly found myself coming up on Iannone; unfortunately I touched his rear wheel and crashed out.
“It was a real pity that I never even managed to get through the first corner of the race, because today I had a good feeling with my bike.”
Team-mate Dovizioso was able to get off the line well and steadily make his way up the order, despite suffering with a lack of grip, and found himself hunting down sixth spot midway through the race.
Battling with Danilo Petrucci, Dovizioso was forced to run wide at Turn 5 to avoid his compatriot, and this opened the door for Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro to make a move.
But the Spaniard tucked the front under braking and wiped the Ducati rider out, Dovizioso suffering a similar fate to that of 12 months ago when team-mate Andrea Iannone did the same thing.
His second place in Qatar keeps him third in the standings on 20 points, whilst Lorenzo languishes down in 18th on just five.
Twitter: Good to see Espargaro rush over to see how Dovizioso is & apologise #Sportsmanship
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“This was a strange race because, even though I actually had very little grip and I was not particularly competitive, I managed to recover well in the early stages and gain some positions,” explained Dovizioso.
“When I got involved in the fight with Danilo, who always brakes on the limit, I tried to find the right moment to pass him, but unfortunately at Turn 5 I was hit by Aleix Espargaro’s bike and crashed out.
“Here in Argentina, I don’t have any luck at all. I’m bitterly disappointed because being able to bring home probably a fifth place, in such a difficult weekend, would have been very important.”
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