Andrea Dovizioso stayed positive after crashing out at the Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon – the Italian rider caught out by the tricky conditions late in the race.

The Ducati Team rider revealed that he had even thought that victory was in his sights before going down on lap 19 when rain started to fall heavily at the MotorLand circuit. At the time he was lying in fourth place behind Dani Pedrosa, Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo.

Ultimately, crashes from Pedrosa, Marquez and Dovizioso left Lorenzo as the clear winner at the front, whilst Dovizioso’s teammate Cal Crutchlow was still able to salvage a podium for Ducati Team.

Dovizioso, who started from row three of the grid, moved into fourth on lap 8 after a scrap with Pol Espargaro. Despite the falling rain, the Italian stayed out on the track and was able to make up ground on the three Spanish riders ahead of him, but on lap 19 he lost control of his Desmosedici GP14 at turn 9 in a highside and had to retire.

He reflected, “Everything was going well while the track stayed dry and I was in fourth place. When it began to rain I started to make up ground on the leaders. Unfortunately I made a mistake at turn 9: it was difficult to see where the track was wet and I lost the rear of my GP14 in a highside. It’s a pity, because I was close to Lorenzo and at the end of that lap I was going to come in and switch bikes.”

“I even think I could have fought it out for the win with him, seeing the way things turned out. It was a situation we should have taken advantage of because a lot of riders made mistakes. Luckily I only bruised my buttock, not my pelvis, it hurts a bit but it’s nothing serious.”