Andrea Dovizioso wins Grand Prix of San Marino, Jack Miller crashes

[Nergal]

 

ANDREA Dovizioso broke Ducati’s winless streak at Misano with a commanding victory in the Grand Prix of San Marino.

The Italian passed polesitter Jorge Lorenzo early and eased away into a lead he would not lose, but a crash for Lorenzo with just two laps remaining would end hopes of a factory Ducati 1-2 on home soil.

Instead, Marc Marquez would claim second place to edge ever closer to a fifth MotoGP world title, the result extending his lead to 67 points.

Lorenzo’s late spill would elevate Cal Crutchlow to the podium, while Suzuki’s Alex Rins and Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales would round out the top five.

Dovizioso’s victory is just Ducati’s second at Misano, snapping an 11-year winless streak dating back to Casey Stoner’s triumph in 2007.

“I’m happy to have beaten Marquez and to win here where I had never managed to before,” said Dovizioso, who was born 60 kilometres up the road from Misano.

“I really enjoyed it today, except when I saw that Jorge was starting to push. I was feeling at one with my Ducati.

“Everything worked great, we have nothing new, it’s just a mix that improves race performance, a mix of fluidity and explosiveness.”

The sea of Valentino Rossi fans who lined Misano in yellow went home slightly deflated, the local favourite only managing to finish seventh after a difficult race.

Combined with Dovizioso’s win, the result sees Rossi slip to third in the championship.

Worse still, with teammate Vinales finishing only fifth, Yamaha’s winless streak - dating back to Rossi’s win at Assen last year - now extends to 22 races, Yamaha’s worst in the premier class.