Andrea Dovizioso withstood a
three-bike scrap to claim victory in a thrilling Czech Republic Grand Prix.
Dovizioso fought off teammate Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez to win in his 100th
race for Ducati, his first victory since the season-opener in Qatar five months
ago.
Valentino Rossi pipped Cal
Crutchlow for fourth place, with Danilo Petrucci, Johann Zarco, Dani Pedrosa,
Alvaro Bautista and Andrea Iannone completing the top 10. Jack Miller worked
his way up to 12th place at the finish, his healthy race pace unable to
overcome a lowly grid position after crashing at a crucial phase of qualifying.
Rossi took a rare holeshot to lead
the field into Turn 1 before the pole-winning Ducati blasted back past a few
corners later. The field had already been trimmed by three by that point. A
crash at the back into Turn 3 ended Maverick Vinales’ tough weekend, with
Stefan Bradl and Bradley Smith also in the gravel. The latter’s crash ended a dismal
day for KTM, who’d already lost Pol Espargaro to a broken collarbone after a
crash in the warm-up.
Marquez
extended his lead despite finishing third, his margin at the top of the
standings now 49 points over Rossi, with Dovizioso now third a further 19
points adrift. The championship heads to the Red Bull Ring next weekend for the
Grand Prix of Austria.
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