Italy’s Andrea Dovizioso said he was “a little bit surprised” to win his fourth MotoGP race of 2017 and re-take the championship lead after another thriller at Silverstone at the weekend.

Not even Dovizioso, championship challenger, and winner of the previous race saw a fourth victory of the 2017 coming, as the Italian admitted to feeling “a little surprised” the wake of yet another assured, measured MotoGP showing on Sunday at Silverstone.

Dovizioso freely admitted he had expected Honda riders Marc Marquez and Cal Crutchlow to dominate the afternoon’s events after morning warm-up, in which he set the eighth fastest time, seven tenths of a second off title leader Marquez.

But the 31-year old found himself in the early running amid a pulsating four-way fight for second place. As the laps went by, the Ducati man soon found himself gaining in strength, as he rode within his means to preserve his rear tyre for a final push.

And it was a series of decisive moves, carrying him to second on lap twelve, and then to the lead at Valentino Rossi’s expense three laps from the flag that ultimately proved decisive, and enough to re-take the lead for the first time in the season’s second half.

“I put myself in the right positions at the right moments,” he said soon after re-assuming the championship lead. “That was the key.” Four wins in a year is the Italian’s biggest haul since that 125cc title year 13 years ago.

“I’m a little bit surprised but before the race I had a good feeling after the warm-up, but not to win the race,” said Dovizioso, who now sits nine points clear of Marquez in the title race. “I expected Honda really competitive but it didn’t happen. During the race, we had to ride in a completely different way than to the practice.

“That changed most of the race, most of the time. I was very comfortable in most of the race. I was able to save the tyre like I saw Maverick and Marc. I was with them, and we did the same things.

“That gave me the possibility to arrive at the end of the race with better grip. In some corners I lose a lot but in some corners I was able to improve because I saw how they made those corners.

“With that grip I was able to overtake the riders quite easy and put myself in the right positions, at the right moment – that was the key of the race, because I wasn’t faster than the competitor. But I was in the right positions at the right moment, and that was the key.”

Pressed on his thoughts on this absorbing title fight, in which five riders are still separated by just 35 points with 150 left to play, Dovizioso described his second win at the British Grand Prix as evidence that he, at the very least, “have the chance to fight.”

“Well, what happened today was something special for us. About the championship, we are there. We are leading but apart from that, we show to everybody we have a chance to fight for the championship.

“I know it’s really long, the championship and the competitors are really strong riders and bikes. Until the end it will be open 100 percent. But we won four races in different ways. It means we have a different base and we work well during the weekends.

“Also, when we are not the fastest we stay calm and we continue working like today. We go into the race with a good feeling and try and get the maximum. Today the maximum, I have a chance to fight for the victory, I didn’t expect it, and I was able to take that possibility.

“I’m really happy with how the team works. The bike has positives and negatives but I was able to play with the bike and use the positives and manage the negatives. It gave me the possibilities to stay with them.”

And would he say the Ducati GP17 is MotoGP’s most balanced bike, now that it has scored as many wins (four) as Honda and Yamaha in 2017? “It’s difficult to say no at this moment,” came the reply. “From Italy our balance is really good. Also, when we didn’t make the podium at Assen we were the fastest before the end of the race before it started to rain.

“It looks like with the new rules and the tyres we have this year we have a really good balance – maybe the best one. It’s difficult to say. The last four races, Marc was really, really, really fast. But every race it’s very difficult to say. But I’m happy.”

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RESULTS & STANDINGS:

RESULTS:

1. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (GP17) 40m 45.496s
2. Maverick Viñales ESP Movistar Yamaha (YZR-M1) 40m 45.610s
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha (YZR-M1) 40m 46.245s
4. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 40m 47.175s
5. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (GP17) 40m 49.004s
6. Johann Zarco FRA Monster Yamaha Tech3 (YZR-M1)* 40m 52.497s
7. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda (RC213V) 40m 56.440s
8. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac (GP16) 40m 59.123s
9. Alex Rins ESP Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)* 41m 1.157s
10. Alvaro Bautista ESP Pull&Bear Aspar (GP16) 41m 10.775s
11. Pol Espargaro ESP Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 41m 15.832s
12. Tito Rabat ESP EG 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 41m 17.105s
13. Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar (GP15) 41m 17.441s
14. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia (GP16) 41m 19.063s
15. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia (GP15) 41m 19.397s
16. Jack Miller AUS EG 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 41m 28.508s
17. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 41m 34.179s

Aleix Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) DNF

Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac (GP17) DNF

Andrea Iannone ITA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) DNF

Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda (RC213V) DNF

Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* DNF

* Rookie

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

1. ^1 Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (GP17) 183 points
2. ˅1 Marc Marquez SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) 174 points (-9)
3. = Maverick Viñales SPA Movistar Yamaha (YZR-M1) 170 points (-13)
4. = Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha (YZR-M1) 157 points (-26)
5. = Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) 148 points (-35)
6. = Johann Zarco FRA Monster Yamaha Tech3 (YZR-M1)* 109 points (-74)
7. = Jorge Lorenzo SPA Ducati Team (GP17) 90 points (-93)
8. ^1 Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 89 points (-94)
9. ˅1 Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech3 (YZR-M1)* 77 points (-106)
10. = Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac (GP17) 75 points (-108)
11. = Alvaro Bautista SPA Pull&Bear Aspar (GP16) 58 points (-125)
12. ^3 Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac (GP16) 45 points (-138)
13. ˅1 Aleix Espargaro SPA Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 43 points (-140)
14. ˅1 Jack Miller AUS EG 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 43 points (-140)
15. ˅1 Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia (GP15) 39 points (-144)
16. = Andrea Iannone ITA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 33 points (-150)
17. = Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar (GP15) 28 points (-155)
18. = Tito Rabat SPA EG 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 27 points (-156)
19. = Pol Espargaro SPA Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 26 points (-157)
20. = Hector Barbera SPA Reale Avintia (GP16) 23 points (-160)
21. = Alex Rins SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)* 19 points (-164)
22. = Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 8 points (-175)
23. = Michele Pirro ITA Ducati Team (GP17) 7 points (-176)
24. = Mika Kallio FIN Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 6 points (-177)
25. = Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* 2 points (-181)
26. = Sylvain Guintoli FRA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1 points (-182)