Andrea Dovizioso and Ducati expected more from their home round, missing out on a potential podium challenge with the wrong strategy.

Of all the teams and riders in the MotoGP™ World Championship, Ducati and Andrea Dovizioso have had the most experience in Misano due to their testing schedule at the track. This filled all involved with high expectations but changeable weather conditions threw up an unexpected surprise. Starting from eighth on the grid, Dovizioso made a steady start to the race but was forced to come into the pits, as were all the other riders, when it began to rain. From this point the San Marino GP became a strategic battle, deciding when to change bikes playing as big a role as sheer speed. Time on wets didn't last long as the track quickly began to dry, riders changing back to slicks after only a handful of laps.

Reflecting back on the race, Dovizioso feels that the strategy he chose was the wrong one and he left both bike changes too late. This meant that he and Ducati missed an important chance to score a good result, the pairing having hopes of a podium before the weekend. An eighth place finish was all Dovizioso could muster, a second behind his Ducati teammate Andrea Iannone. Dovizioso sits sixth in the MotoGP™ World Championship standings with 128 points, just seven shy of Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3). The paddock now head to Aragon, the site of Ducati’s last double podium finish in 2010.

Andrea Dovizioso: “It was a real pity and I feel disappointed for the team because we missed out on an important opportunity to score a good result, but unfortunately I had the wrong strategy. Both bike switches I didn’t do at the right time, and I will take the blame for that: I’m really disappointed about it, because we could have got a good result. That will certainly be useful for the future, but it’s always complicated to understand when it’s the right time to come into the pits and change bikes.”