For former championship leader, Andrea Dovizioso, the Catalan Grand Prix was another race to forget for the 34-year-old.

After a poor qualifying session, Dovizioso was mired deep in the pack, entering the opening sequence of corners alongside fellow Ducati rider’s Johann Zarco and factory team-mate Danilo Petrucci. However, things soon went sour for the rider from Forli, after Petrucci lost the front of his Ducati, saving it, the Italian caused a shockwave through the pack with Zarco closing the throttle, overloading the front tyre resulting in a second corner crash, wiping himself and Dovizioso out with him.

However, all is not lost for the Italian, dropping from the top of the championship to just fourth and remains well within title contention, sitting just 24 points behind returning championship leader, Fabio Quartararo.

Speaking after his short race in Barcelona, Dovi said: “Crashing out at the second corner is always difficult to digest, and I’m sorry for how the race went today. I had focused on making a good start, and at the end of the straight, I managed to recover several positions.”

“Unfortunately, I got involved in an accident on the first lap, which was the result of a normal race dynamic,” the Italian said.

He then turned to his attention to his championship hopes, “The Championship is potentially still open but, if we want to challenge for the title, now more than ever, we need to return to the levels of competitiveness to which we are used to”. 

Dovizioso will return to action in two week’s time with the MotoGP World Championship heading to Le Mans across the weekend of October 10-11th.