If you can get past the fact that while Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo were again one step above the others, the Motorland Aragon race except for the drama of the Ducati factory riders, was only livened up by Yamaha Tech3s Andrea Dovizioso and his team mate Cal Crutchlow, who actually offered some fantastic racing (as MotoGP should be) enough to keep fans sitting on the edge of their chairs for those final two laps and see who would win the battle for third.
The two were evenly matched, the same machines, but completely different riding styles.
Dovizioso who will be leaving at the end of the season to ride the factory Ducati, managed to keep the British rider behind him because he had studied him in their previous battles they had and knew his weak points.
It was a very good race and I am very happy to be back on the podium.
It has been a difficult weekend with the weather but the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team did a fantastic job and the bike was very strong in the race.
It was a very strategic race for me because right from the start I was quite slow in a few corners so I had to work very hard to stay in front of Ben and Cal.
I knew Cal would be pushing very hard at the end of the race because a few times we have battled together like this and I have beaten him, so I knew he would not be giving up without a fight.
He tried in the same place on the last two laps but at that point he couldn’t stop the bike and I had a better exit speed to immediately take the third position back.
And I know I am very strong on the brakes, so going to the last corner I was confident I could keep him behind me.
It is great to be back on the podium, so I want to say a big thanks to my crew for doing such a wonderful job again,” said Dovizioso.
Cal Crutchlow wasn’t that disappointed about the lost battle, he lost by just one tenth of a second but taking stock his fourth place gave him a slightly bigger gap in the standings (he is fifth with 135 points) over Valentino Rossi and Alvaro Bautista (who are tied in sixth with same points.
The British rider in his usual direct way actually said, “It’s nice to get in the top four again, and to take some points out of Rossi, who was right on my arse”.
“Obviously it would have been great to be back on the podium after the disappointment of Misano but credit to Andrea because he did a great job as always and I’m taking nothing away from him,” commented Crutchlow.
“I did my best in those last two laps to take third but I knew he had a little better exit speed than me coming out of Turn 15 and that’s how it turned out.
It was impossible for me to try again at the last corner but I am happy with fourth because this result once again shows the huge step I have ma de from last season.
Today I was close to the podium and last year struggling to be in the top 10.
It was a good result for the Championship too because I pulled a small gap on Valentino and Alvaro.
I can go into the last four races with a lot of confidence and hopefully enjoy some more good battles with Andrea.
I tried my best to beat him today and didn’t quite manage it, so hopefully next time we are in a fight like that it will be me that comes out on top.
”