Barcelona’s lack of grip in today’s soaring temperatures obliged MotoGP’s combatants to switch from throttle to brain, and a proud Gigi Dall’Igna believes this is the reason behind Andrea Dovizioso’s second win in a row

“Andrea won because it was a race where you had to use the head he is the master in this. He is smart and he thinks a lot,” said Dall’Igna,  celebrating  an incredible moment for the 31 year old Italian and also for Ducati.

It took Dovizioso seven years to get his second MotoGP win last year in Malaysia. Seven months to return to the first step of the podium in Mugello and only seven days to repeat it. He is now seven points behind Maverick Vinales in the title chase. Is this a change in the championship order…

Realistic, hard working and grounded, Dovizioso has been often under-evaluated in the paddock and sometimes overshadowed by team-mate like Dani Pedrosa or Casey Stoner. Finally at Ducati, he has found a team and a factory who fully believe in him and he carried out the development of the bikes even when results were not coming. Dovi can now benefit from the new generation of the Desmosedici of the Dall’Igna era to its full potential:

How important was it to repeat the Mugello win today?
“When you have results everything is easier. Winning in Mugello helped me as a rider in terms of confidence but it’s important also for the team as you work in a more relaxed way.”

What is the secret?
“For sure the approach to the race. I’m speaking about small things but we are always at the limit and small details can make the difference. A big change started from middle of the season last year. I understood things about life that made me approach life and races differently.”

Does it goes with maturity?
“I don’t feel old. I meet people and speaking with people you can start to understand things differently.”

Did you expect to win today?
“It was a strange race. We couldn’t push because of the lack of grip so I had to manage things at the best and also use the potential of our bike on the straight.”

Second in the championship, are you thinking about the title?
“I’m known to be realistic. Today I’m really happy, but we need to keep on working. The same problems we are suffering in the last two years are still there. We need to keep on working if we want to fight for the championship. Of course two wins in a row are very important, but still if the world title is the target as we said at the beginning of the season, we need to be competitive every weekend. The performance still changes too much from track to track.”