Photo credits: Ducati
The bid for the 2020 FIM MotoGP World Champion may have ended but the run is not over for the Ducati Team. The team is ready to head back on track with vigour for the fourteenth and final round of the season- the Portuguese Grand Prix. The Autódromo Internacional do Algarve do Portimão will play host to the race for the first time this weekend.
Ducati riders Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci have both had memorable races this year. The duo took part last October in a day of testing to familiarise with the circuit layout on a Ducati Superleggera V4 machine. Michele Pirro and the Ducati Test Team also ran there, also on the following day, on the same occasion.
Dovizioso, who currently sits sixth in the overall standings on equal points with Quartararo fifth, still has a chance to fight for second and third place in the Championship and will aim to achieve this goal in the last round of the season.
After a difficult weekend in Valencia, Petrucci, who is currently twelfth in the standings, also arrives in Portugal determined to achieve a good result in his last Grand Prix riding the Ducati Desmosedici GP. The rider from Terni is one of the few riders on the grid to have previously raced in Portimão. In 2011, Danilo achieved his last success in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve on a Ducati 1098R. He then moving to MotoGP the following year.
In the last Grand Prix of the 2020 season, the Manufacturers’ Championship will also be decided, with Ducati in second place, on equal points with Suzuki, the current leader. In the team classification, the Ducati Team is fourth with 203 points.
“I am eager to get back on track this weekend in Portimão. Even though it will be tough, we can still challenge for second or third place in the championship, and it would be great to be able to end my adventure with Ducati and such a difficult season by achieving this goal. It will be my last race on the Desmosedici GP bike, and it will certainly be touching. We will race on a new circuit for MotoGP, and this will make the weekend even more special. I hope it will be fun!”
“Although we took part in a test at Portimão a few weeks ago riding a Superleggera V4 street bike machine, no rider currently has experience on a MotoGP bike at this track. So we will all start from scratch and with very few reference points. This will be my last race on a Ducati after six years, two of which I have spent in the official team. It will be an exciting weekend in many ways. I want to think about ending this adventure with a good result. And I will try my best to get it”.
The Portuguese Grand Prix will officially start this Friday at 10:10 am local time (GMT +0.00) with the first free practice session.