Ducati Sporting Club UK > News Items > Ducati Press Releases > Dovizioso closes the penultimate round of the 2020 MotoGP season in eighth place

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MotoGP | Round 13 - Valencia GP 2020 | Sunday 15 November 2020

Valencia GP. Andrea Dovizioso closes the penultimate round of the 2020 MotoGP season in eighth place. Fifteenth Danilo Petrucci

• Andrea Dovizioso, closes the Valencia GP in Cheste in the top ten, in eighth place, after recovering from seventeenth on the grid;
• Danilo Petrucci, hindered by a problem with the left grip, ends a suffered race in fifteenth place;
• Jack Miller, rider of the Pramac Racing Team, takes his third podium of the season. The Australian finishes second missing out on the victory for only 93 thousandths.

After the light the rain yesterday afternoon, the sun finally returned to shine down on the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Cheste, where the Valencia GP, the penultimate round of the 2020 MotoGP season, was held today.

Andrea Dovizioso was the protagonist of a good comeback, as he crossed the finish line in eighth place, despite having started from the sixth row of the grid. After a good start, which allowed him to recover some positions immediately, the Romagna rider was able to lap consistently managing to pass several riders to cross the line in eighth place, just 26 thousandths behind Joan Mir, crowned 2020 World Champion today.

For Danilo Petrucci, it was instead a more difficult race. Starting from fifteenth on the grid, the rider from Terni lost some ground after the start and as he was struggling with some problems with the left grip of his bike, he managed to cross the line only fifteenth.

It was an excellent performance from the Pramac Racing Team's Ducati rider Jack Miller, who took his third podium of the season today. Jack, who started from second on the grid, has been the author of a sensational race, engaging a fierce scrap with Franco Morbidelli on the final lap, to end the race right behind him in second place, missing out on the victory by only 93 thousandths of a second.

Thanks to Millers' podium today, Ducati is currently second in the Manufacturers' standings on equal points with Suzuki. In the riders' classification, Dovizioso is sixth tied with Quartararo fifth, while Petrucci is twelfth with 78 points. In the teams' standings, the Ducati Team currently sits in fourth place with 203 points.

Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) - 8th
"I am quite satisfied with today's result, considering that I started from seventeenth on the grid. Today we could have done more, seeing that Jack Miller was able to bring his Ducati on the podium, but unfortunately in the final laps, I had a problem with the left handlebar, and I couldn't ride as I wanted. I'm disappointed, because now the fight for the remaining positions on the championship rostrum becomes more difficult, but there's still one race left, and we'll fight till the end. I want to congratulate Joan Mir on winning his first MotoGP World Title because he 100% deserved it!"

Danilo Petrucci (#9 Ducati Team) - 15th
"It has been a rather tough race. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make up positions at the start, and immediately after a few laps, I started to have problems with the left grip. Controlling the bike had become really difficult, but fortunately, I was able to stay focused and complete the race finishing in the points. Congratulations to Joan Mir for winning the World Title: he is a quiet and very strong guy, and I think he absolutely deserved this success".

The Ducati Team riders will be back on track in less than seven days, from 20th-22nd November at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao (Portugal), for the last Grand Prix of the 2020 season.