Dovizioso made one of his trademark blistering launches off the start line to quickly seize fifth place from Crutchlow on the run to the tight first corner.
The Italian then quickly found a fart and consistent rhythm in front of a sun-drenched Californian crowd o f 52,677 fans to mount a charge towards Factory Yamaha rider Ben Spies. Spies needed to call on all his vast home track knowledge to keep Dovizioso at bay. But a crash for the American exiting the spectacular Corkscrew section on lap 22 put Dovizioso into fourth position.
Dovizioso though never had the opportunity to relax, as a determined Crutchlow had remained glued to the back of his YZR-M1 machine right from the first lap.
Andrea Dovizioso 4th – 121 points:
“It would have been nice to have kept the podium sequence going for a fourth race in a row but we have to be very satisfied with today's result because it was the best we could achieve when you consider the pace the top three have shown all weekend. Ben was doing a fantastic race and credit to him because he wasn't in the best physical condition. It is a big pity that he crashed because at the end of the race I am sure we could have had a really nice battle. It wasn't easy to stay with him and I was pushing really hard but when Ellison crashed there was a lot of sand on the track and I hit it and los t some time. It is a positive result and this busy period in the Championship has been very successful but we have to say the gap to the top three was very big. We head to the summer break confident for the rest of the season and ready to return in Indianapolis refreshed and looking forward to improving our performance.”
Monster Yamaha Tech3 Press Release
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