Race report

Hayden eighth, crash for Dovizioso at Silverstone

Andrea Dovizioso: "I lost the front end in turn twelve, a spot where I really wasn’t expecting it."

Today’s British Grand Prix—the final race in a busy MotoGP triple header that lasted almost the entire month of August—was a thrilling affair that featured several exciting battles, including a race-long tussle over eighth place involving Ducati Team riders Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso, as well as Bradley Smith.

Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden, Ducati Team

Photo by: Ducati Corse

Ultimately, it was the American who secured the position at the finish, whereas Dovizioso suffered an unfortunate fall just two laps from the end.

Dovizioso and Hayden had started from opposite ends of the third row and were ninth and tenth, respectively, at the completion of lap one. The teammates traded positions on a couple of occasions, and on lap seventeen of twenty, the Italian moved by Smith to take over eighth place, only to lose the front end two laps later and crash out. Hayden took advantage and also passed Smith before crossing the finish line in eighth place.

The MotoGP riders now get a well-deserved weekend off before returning to the track for the GP di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini on 15 September.

Nicky Hayden - Ducati Team, 8th: “I was going fast in the warm-up this morning but I had a high-speed crash that really beat up the bike. I had to use the other bike in the race, but even though it had an older engine, it worked fine and I had a good battle with Bradley and Dovi.

I had hoped before the race that we could really do something better than that, but I think eighth place was about the maximum that was possible today. The team is really working hard, and they improved the bike a bit for today. We’ll keep rolling and try to do a step forward.”

Andrea Dovizioso - Ducati Team, NC: “It’s really a shame about the crash because I had a good strategy and Nicky and I had tried hard to stay with Smith for the whole race. We managed it until near the end. I was trying to put a small gap on them before the last corner, but I lost the front end in turn twelve, a spot where I really wasn’t expecting it.

I was quite fast there, and I felt safe. I don’t think I made a big mistake; maybe I was just going a bit faster than normal, but as we’re always riding at the limit, the front closed and I went down. I’m really disappointed because I could’ve had eighth place, which we knew was the maximum that we could do this weekend. I lost some points in the championship, and I’m very sorry for the team.”

Paolo Ciabatti – Ducati MotoGP Project Director: “Today both Nicky and Andrea gave it their all as they fought for eighth place, and it’s really a shame that Dovi crashed a couple of laps from the end. At the moment, this seems to be our potential, but we’ll continue trying hard to improve the bike’s performance ahead of the Misano round in two weeks.

The test team will be back on track at Mugello on Wednesday morning with Michele Pirro and Franco Battaini, and our development work continues without pause.”