Australian MotoGP: Andrea Dovizioso grabs crucial third

Andrea Dovizioso strengthened his bid to secure third place in the 2011 MotoGP world championship with a sixth podium of the season in Phillip Island yesterday.

The Italian lost out in an exciting battle with compatriot Marco Simoncelli for second position in the 27-lap encounter but with Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa finishing in a distant fourth, he holds third place in the overall rankings from the Spaniard by four-points with two races remaining.

His rostrum was his first since the Brno race in mid-August and he said: “The target was to arrive in front of Dani and also to come back on the podium, so we have to be happy about that. For the last two laps I thought I can fight for the second position and I tried to beat Marco, but he braked really good in turn four. And in the last two corners I tried to push at 100 per cent, but I didn’t have enough grip to try to overtake. But third place is good and the most important thing was to arrive in front of Dani.

“We still have the possibility to fight for third position in the championship now. We know it will be really hard and really difficult because Dani’s fast, especially at the last two tracks, but also we’re fast, so we have the possibility to fight.”

For nine pages of news and reaction from the Australian Grand Prix, see the October 19 issue of Motor Cycle News.