Dovizioso thrilled with second at Sepang

Dovizioso thrilled with second at Sepang

Sunday, 10 October 2010

The Repsol Honda rider battled with Valentino Rossi for victory in the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix before finally taking his second consecutive second place finish.

Dovizioso very pleased with second

Andrea Dovizioso played out a fine contest with Valentino Rossi at Sepang on Sunday, going toe-to-toe with the Italian for the race victory before finally finishing in second position at just 0.224s behind. It was the second race in succession that the Repsol Honda rider took second spot, and he was extremely satisfied with the manner in which he achieved the result.

“I’m very happy with this second place today and it was a great race. We have been fighting for the victory at the last two races at two very different tracks, and also in different conditions, so this is really positive,” said the 24 year-old, who took his first MotoGP podium at Sepang in 2008.

“I tried to stay close to Valentino on the last lap but in the final braking area I wasn’t close enough to take him in the middle of the corner, even though he was too late on the brakes and went wide. Anyway, this result for Honda, Repsol and my team is really important. Last year we were 40 seconds behind the winner in the race here, so to be just 0.2s behind means we’ve moved forward a lot.”

Dovizioso’s return to the podium in the last two rounds has come after a run of eight races without a rostrum finish, and he is more than happy to be challenging at the front once more.

“In the middle of the season, we weren’t on the podium for a long time, so to be back in the top three is very important for us,” continued Dovizioso, who has started the last two races from the front row. “We have to be happy because this was almost a win, and the riders in front of me are changing at each race, which means we have better consistency.”

“We are happy and I’d like to say thank you to Honda and my crew. From the middle of the season until now we improved a lot because of the hard work of a great team,” he concluded.

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