Andrea Dovizioso grabbed his fourth podium this season at Mugello and the Italian is still one of the contendors for a Yamaha factory ride, but apparently his podium placements aren’t enough to guarantee him a move back up the ladder, and just to add to the 2013 silly season he admitted that he has gotten an offer from Honda to return to the fold.
but with San Carlo Gresini.
Dovizioso is also considering a switch to World Superbikes.
Max Biaggi also showed up to see the Italian GP and it was the first time in seven years that he visited the MotoGP paddock and he was a guest of his friend Jorge Lorenzo.
Biaggi was asked if he missed it GP racing and he replied that the prototypes are fascinating, but in World Superbikes there are a lot of battles and you never know who the winner will be.
There are also rumors that Spped Master’s CRT team is running low on budget and there could be a change in plans in the following weeks that could concern Mattia Pasini and Colin Edwards.
Here are more rider quotes from the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM:Andrea Dovizioso – 3rd“To get a podium is always special but to do it in front of the Italian crowd and after such a strong battle makes it feel even better.
I got the perfect start and was third at the first corner and I felt very strong in braking at the start so passed Dani at Turn 5.
Immediately though I could see that Lorenzo was faster in some parts of the track, but it was good to see again the small points I need to improve to get the best out of the Yamaha.
The fight with Bradl for the whole race was fantastic and he did a great job.
He didn’t give up but I am so happy with another podium and I want to say a big thanks again to my Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew.
We are working so well together and our results show it.
” Stefan Bradl – 4th“It’s a fantastic feeling for me and the whole team.
Undoubtedly a podium finish would have been simply perfect but I am extremely happy about this great result on this track.
I think that our pace was perfect from the beginning of the race, because in the last couple of races we struggled a bit too much with a full fuel tank and could not feel the front tyre properly, but here we used a different set up.
It worked perfectly on this special layout but at the end of the race I missed a bit of front-end feeling under braking.
So I preferred to stay calm and Dovi passed me, but after that I was trying to follow him and it was pretty easy for me.
Then Hayden put in a brave move on me but he didn’t have the best exit on the right corner and I could pass him again.
Probably my manoeuvre looked a bit aggressive on TV but I think it was normal for a last lap.
Being so close to the podium is fantastic and I feel happy for the team: they support me in the best way every weekend and especially Lucio.
He is a hard worker and with this great result I want to give him something back.
”Cal Crutchlow – 6th“My start and the first five laps pretty much decided my race because I got a terrible start.
Once I found my pace I was pretty comfortable but I didn’t have a very good feeling on a full fuel tank and that is something we need to work on.
The battle with Valentino was fantastic and I learned a lot from him.
His knowledge of this track is unrivalled and his consistency was awesome.
I was faster than him in the final section but I was not close enough to pass him on the brakes and he had a fast bike down the straight.
I did everything possible but he is incredible on the brakes and didn’t give me a chance.
I also want to say congratulations to Andrea.
He is doing a phenomenal job and to get three podiums in a row in this class is a great achievement.
He did it in front of his home crowd too and it shows what an unbelievable job the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team is doing in 2012.
”Héctor Barberá – 9th“I’m really disappointed and a bit mystified because I’ve felt good all weekend and we got the bike working really well on this track.
I don’t know what happened during today’s 23-lap race, but I struggled a lot to find the right confidence with my bike, especially when I had to change direction, as my Ducati slid a lot.
And at this track you have got a lot of fast changes of direction that are crucial to setting good times and maintaining a fast race pace.
Both the air temperature and the track temperature were quite similar to yesterday and I don’t understand what changed compared to the practice sessions.
Today I didn’t enjoy myself and it was a shame, because Mugello is one of my favourite tracks.
”Álvaro Bautista – 10th“Thank goodness this weekend is over because from the first moment I have struggled to get confident with the bike here.
It is strange because at all the other circuits we’ve been to so far we have been close to the guys at the front but here we have been unable to get on the pace.
It has got to be down to the fact that we usually use the soft tyre and here we were forced to use the hard tyre for the race.
We had to work around this and it made everything difficult for us, as did the three crashes and the brake problem.
In the race I didn’t have feel or grip on the rear – we made it to the end but I’m not happy.
I just hope that in the next race we are not forced to make this choice and are able to work with the soft tyre because it suits our set-up and my riding style.
I want to thank the team because they have worked so hard all weekend and I am disappointed for them and the sponsors here at their home Grand Prix.
”Randy De Puniet – 12th“I am very happy.
This is the third time in a row that we have reached our target of being the top CRT.
These past two races there has even been a big difference between us.
My start wasn’t great, but I quickly focused on finding the pace that I had in practice.
Soon I was riding alone, and once again it was a tough race in which I had to struggle to keep my concentration.
I saw Spies ahead of me and he was useful as a reference point for keeping my pace up.
I caught up to him and passed him, but he was able to return the favour before the line.
I am very satisfied and I think that my team did a sensational job.
It is very rewarding to take results like today’s and I hope to do the same at the next GP.
We have a good base and I think that at Laguna Seca we can get another great result.
”Aleix Espargaró – 13th“Today I started very well and on the first corner I was able to pass two official bikes on the outside.
The opening two laps were really fun.
Then, with the tank still full, I was unable to get a good pace going and I noticed that the bike wasn’t cornering well.
I wasn’t comfortable, lost concentration and ran off track when I locked up the front.
I recovered as well as quickly as I could and focused fully, trying to do my best to recover positions.
I went fast and was able to cross the line as the second best CRT, behind my teammate Randy.
I am happy, because I kept up a good pace despite the run-off, but our aim is to be the best CRT, so we will have to work hard and try again at Laguna Seca.
”Mattia Pasini – 15th“This race went quite well.
It’s a shame how the last two laps turned out, we had a good start and we had a consistent pace.
I was behind De Puniet for a few laps, then I lost a little from him and I spent the central part of the race on my own.
At the end of the race Ellison and Espargaró reached me: they overtook me and I tried to fight back, but it was tough.
In the corners we are competitive and fast, now we’ll try to make some further steps forward to improve the performance of the ART machine.
”James Ellison – 16th“I really enjoyed the race.
I got a really good start and was clinging onto to Rossi until near the end of the first lap but I folded the front and lost the tow and then got passed by Pasini whilst under pressure from Hernandez.
I had a real good battle with Hernandez and managed to make a gap from him and start to pull in Pasini with a couple of laps to go.
I had to pass him a couple of times to make it stick and thought 13th place was in the bag until Espargaro passed me down the start and finish straight.
I pushed so hard on the last lap to stay with him and was glued to his back wheel until the end but just didn’t have enough to get past.
My last lap was only a tenth of a second slower than my best so I was very strong at the finish and happy with more points.
I’m looking forward to going to Laguna Seca in two weeks time to try to improve again but it’s been another great team effort this weekend.
”Michele Pirro – DSQ“I am really disappointed to have to retire with the same problem as Qatar and Germany.
I practically changed gear twice and my race was over.
I knew it was going to be a hard year working on a new project like this but to have the same problem twice is bitterly disappointing for me, the team, and the guys who always get through so much work.
I would have liked to put on a good show in my home race but what can I say? We just have to hope for better luck at Laguna Seca.
”Danilo Petrucci DNF “I did a good start and I was fighting in the CRTs’ leading group but during the fourth lap at Poggio Secco corner I lost the front of my TR003 and I crashed out.
We were quite competitive on this track and this is very positive looking to Laguna Seca race”.
Colin Edwards – DNF“I don’t have much to say, basically it’s the problems we have been having all year.
When ever Espargaro run off and passed me it was kind of the icing on the cake, whatever issues I was having with traction control it just made it really hard to ride and unsafe and had to enter pits.
Thanks to everybody for their efforts.
”