Mugello MotoGP: Bradl praises Dovizioso after podium fight

Stefan Bradl praised Andrea Dovizioso’s composure and smooth riding style after the German came within 0.046s of claiming a sensational debut MotoGP rostrum in yesterday’s Italian Grand Prix.

The LCR Honda rider held third position from lap 10 but he was unable to prevent Dovizioso clinching a fourth podium in the last five races in front of his home crowd of almost 65,000 fans.

Dovizioso made his decisive attack with three laps remaining and the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider held off fierce pressure from reigning Moto2 world champion Bradl.

Bradl made an aggressive move to quickly wrestle back fourth from Ducati rider Nicky Hayden at Turn 4 on the last lap but he couldn’t get close enough to Dovizioso’s YZR-M1.

Bradl told MCN: “I had a great bike from the beginning of the race because at the last couple of races I have struggled with a full fuel tank but that was much better.

“The performance of the bike at the beginning of the race was great. I was able to use the new tyres right from the start but over the last five laps I had a little problem with my front tyre because we didn’t use enough stroke on the front fork and the tyre had to absorb a lot.

“This gave me the feeling of the front tyre closing and on the limit so I could not push any harder. That’s why Dovizioso caught me on the brakes and in the last lap I tried to be precise and follow him.

“In general Dovizioso was smoother than me. He was riding really smooth until the end of the race and even in the last lap he was taking really nice exits from the corners, using the best of his potential even when the tyre is almost finished whereas I was a little too aggressive on the edge and overheated the tyre in some corners.

“When Dovi passed me I could see that he was riding different but I could not adapt that quickly but for almost the whole race I was leading that group and that was tough thing to do.

“Maybe sometimes I was a little too aggressive, running a little bit wide but at the end I had that strange feeling with the front tyre. To have made such a great race and then crash would have been pity so I tried to stay calm and finish with a good result. ”

To find out more from Bradl and Hayden on their last lap tussle, see the July 18 issue of MCN.