MotoGP Italy: Dovizioso: Sick, strange, no strategy!

Andrea Dovizioso began race day at his home Italian Grand Prix without a complete🌠 lap in morning warm-up, but finished it with his first ever dry MotoGP win.
The Ducati star, who qua🧸lified on the front row, was struck down by food poisoning overnight and his strength was soon put to the test when he suffered a scary 200mph wobble early in the ra๊ce.
Dovi shrugged off the scare and settled into second behind pole sitter and world championship leader Maverick🌺 Vinales, by lap 6 of 23. The Italian then unleashed Desmosedici horsepower to blast past the Yamaha rider on lap 14, ultimately edging away to a 1.2s victory margin.
"Very strange day!" smiled Dovi. "I woke up at🥀 4:00am and I was sick. We didn't make the warm-up. Fortunately, we didn't have to try anything on the bike because our situation was really good.
"𒉰Then on the second lap I had big shaking on the straight and I was really out of control. But the chang🐟e we did with Brembo [kept the brake pads close to the disc] fortunately.
"I didn't have energy before the race, so I was scℱared about that, but the reality was I was able to ride fast in a smooth way, that for me made a big difference during the race to stay behind Maverick.
"Ten laps to the end I decide to overtake him, but with🎐out a strategy. I saw that we are four ride🐻rs in the group and I think it's better to be in front. We will see.
"Most of the time Valentino has something for the end of the race, anဣd here he is very strong, so I had that question mark. Maverick is very, very strong and when I saw him two l༒aps to the end, +1.2s, I said 'f**k!'
"Just at the last corner I realis♎ed I was able to win. In the last lap I have༺ eight tenths, but I couldn't understand if Maverick close the gap during the lap and if he was able to try to overtake me in the last corner. I didn't know.
"I d🉐id this podium at Mugello in the past with HRC and I was crying like Danilo today! It was really nice, but to be on top is a really big difference, and to do it with Ducati is something really special. When you don't expect a result and you get it, it's very nice.
"I want to say thank-yඣou to a lot of people because help me a lot. Ducati, my team, all the fan𒆙s."
Both of Dovizios🦄o's previous Mot💧oGP wins were in damp or fully wet conditions, at Donington Park in 2009 and Sepang in 2016. Ducati meanwhile had not won its home race since Casey Stoner in 2009.
Dovizioso is now secondꦛ in the world championship, 26-points behind Vinales, but won't be making any grand claims about challenging for the title at this stage.
"Every weekend is a different story. We have to be positive after this result, but we didn't change something꧃ special on the bike. That's why I'm not a guy - that I can say no🌳w - who will fight for the championship.
"A lot of people call me negative, but I call it realistic. ♕Until now, we can be really fast in some races but our base in 18 races is not good enough.
"The layout of this track suits the bike in a perfect way today🌠. That's it. And we have an advantage in fif🌸th and sixth gear.
"Next weekend we will see very easy [how competitive we are] in a completely different track where the grip is very low and the asphalt is not so good. Last year we struggled a lot. Like I said🌃, we didn't change something big here. That's why I'm realistic🌄.
"To fight with them every we💖ekend and to arrive at the end of the season and fight for the championship will be dℱifficult. We are here for that and for sure we are working for that.
"But I'm not the kind of rider, now, after this result who can say next weekend we will be there in the same situatio🐻n, because I know from the beginning of the season the negative and the positive of the bike."
New-for-2017 team-mate Joꦡrge Loren❀zo also briefly led the race in the early stages, before fading back to eighth.
"Like I've said from the beginning, I'm not surprised to see him struggling. Jorge is a really fast rider. Like in Jerez, when he's in a good mood, he'sꦉ really strong. But in this moment our bike - this weekend was really good - but in all the other race we couldn't fight for t🉐he victory. So, it means there is something we have to improve. And for him, he doesn't have a lot of experience with all these problems and it's difficult to manage, I think."
And when Dovi p🅷ointed to his backsidཧe in front of the Ducati grandstand on the cool down lap, was it a reference to his food poisoning? "No! I was pointing to my name on my leathers; Desmo Dovi"
First free practice in Catalunya, featurin🃏g the revised chicane, starts on Friday morning.

Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossꦉi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.