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At certain moments of the race, Andrea Dovizioso had similar pace to those fighting for fourth, he attempted to attack Rossi, tussled with Petrucci and fought with Espargarò, all to defend his position.
At one point though, Andrea suffered a drop in the performance of the Michelin rear tyre, under stress from the exuberant distribution of the Desmosedici GP: “unfortunately we're not happen with the final position. We took a risk going with the soft rear, and I take the blame -admitted Andrea- We didn't lap much here, with only 4 tyres we took a risk and it wasn't the right decision. It's a pity, because I felt good in the race. Before the start, I had my doubts, but aside from the top three, we were fast; I was with Valentino and Maverick, I recovered well and could have battled for fifth place today; we lost a few points but showed once again that we are fast. The championship remains open, there are five of us and anything can happen. We have our own characteristics and can fight. I go on holiday knowing that we'll play our cards, predicting anything is impossible, only time will tell”.
Will the new aerodynamic features expected at Brno be key in keeping you at the front or is there still some doubt?
“We may continue to have balance and uncertainty; when you bring new aerodynamic or electronics parts, they need to be well tested, because we're proving to be competitive at every track. We need to work well every weekend - sometimes the advantage comes in working on the set-up, other times it's by bringing technical evolutions. We're calm but this doesn't mean we're totally sorted, everyone is working and improving and we need to keep up”.
How would you sum up the situation, mid-season?
“Beyond every expectation, we're fighting on a level playing field, at some track we've been stronger, while at others it's the Yamahas, or the Hondas. The overall balance is positive in terms of speeds and approach, we've never been as prepared as we are now, in our fifth championship together”.
Is it better to make predictions or do you prefer to be uncertain?
“At times it can be better to not know what might happen; personally, when I know nothing, I worry less before the race”.
On some occasions, you've thought about the championship, electing not to attack: is it a tactic that pays off or should you take risks?
“It depends on the situation, there are many aspects to be managed, from the track temperature, the tyres, the electronics. You take risks when you can, it's hard to explain”.
If you'd started further forward on the grid, would you have scored a better result?
“Before the race, we were all confused, because we didn't have enough data to have a clear idea. Due to the fact that you're leaning left for so long, we knew tyre wear would be an issue. With tyres we knew little about and a new track surface it was difficult to understand, but I started well and conserved the tyres while riding. We probably wouldn't have been faster with a medium tyre, but would have been more consistent until the end, we could definitely have battled with Vinales for fourth place”.
