Broken water pump the cause of Dovizioso’s retirement

Having qualified up in fourth as the standout Ducati rider, a difficult first couple of laps saw Dovizioso drop to seventh behind Dani Pedrosa’s Honda and both works Suzukis in the opening laps at Jerez.

He suddenly slowed on the ninth lap with an apparent mechanical issue with the Desmosedici GP, marking his third successive retirement of a troubled 2016 campaign.

“Unfortunately we had a problem with the water pump,” Dovizioso told media after the race. “So the water went to the rear tyre and I almost crashed two or three times and I had to retire.

“It’s very bad because the last three races we take zero points and for the championship this is really bad. But this is something that can happen.

“We have to look at the positive things – I didn’t crash, and my feeling with the bike is good, so I go to [the next race] at Le Mans with the same confidence I arrive here.”

Iannone salvages seventh

Dovizioso’s Ducati teammate Andrea Iannone managed to take a seventh place finish on a tough weekend for the Bologna squad, making up four spots from his grid slot.

He admitted that his sub-par qualifying showing made for a challenging race.

“All weekend we had a lot of problems, so it was a very difficult situation for us,” said Iannone. “We changed completely the setting of the bike, and it was difficult to improve.

“But all the race, honestly, the pace was not so bad, because it was very close to [Repsol Honda riders] Marc [Marquez] and Dani [Pedrosa].

“It would have been better for us to start one or two rows further in front, to try and fight for fourth or fifth place. In any case we tried our best and we want to come back strong for Le Mans.”