Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso powered to his fifth win of the year at the Motegi Circuit in Japan on Sunday afternoon.
At the end of an exciting race that saw an exhilarating battle with his 2017 title rival, Marc Marquez, that came right down to the final corner on the final lap, the Italian rider was victorious and as a result, reduced the gap in the overall standings to 11 points to the Spanish champion, with three rounds left in the season.
Dovi, who started from row 3, moved up to third in the early laps behind Danilo Petrucci, who led until lap 12, with Marquez in second. After Marquez made his way past Petrucci, Dovi also made his way past then began to chase down Marquez for the lead.
And he did just that, catching and passing the Repsol Honda rider on lap 21, however just 3 laps later Marquez retook the position. Instead of falling back and just settling for second, Dovi refused to lose touch with his title rival, constantly swapping places up until the final corner before the finish to hold onto his first place until the chequered flag.
โIt was a difficult race because at the start there wasn't much grip and I didn't have a good feeling with the bike but I never gave up, not even when I was losing ground, and this made all the difference,โ he said.
โMarc was really quick and he tried right until the end, but there were some places where I could attack and he also made a small mistake on the last lap which gave me a chance to catch him again and try and pass him at Turn 11.โ
โ I knew that he was going to attack me in the final two corners but I was prepared for this, I closed the door on him and he had to go a bit wide to pass me. It was absolutely vital to win here and I'm really so pleased for the whole team and for the championship.โ
