When the Aragon Grand Prix eventually came to a close after 23 laps of hard racing, seventh place went to the Ducati of Andrea Dovizioso, who started from the third row.
The Italian rider fought with the leading group for half the race, holding on to fourth until lap 14, and he then found himself in a great battle with Rossi and Viñales but he wasn't able to defend his position in the final stages and finished his race in seventh place.
Dovizioso now lies second in the overall standings with a 16-point gap from leader Marquez while Lorenzo moves back up to seventh place on 106 points.
“It was a complicated weekend and my race was a tough one. At the start I tried to stay with the leading group, but unfortunately I didn't have many cards to play: for sure not being able to do many laps on Friday complicated the situation because we knew this wasn't an easy track for us and that we needed more time to work,” he said.
“I don't think that opting for the soft rear tyre was a mistake, and the drop in performance towards the end of the race in my opinion is due to other factors, seeing as I was losing a lot in some parts of the track. Pity about my seventh place but, given the conditions, it was the best I could do today. There are still a lot of points at stake in the next four races and so we'll try and make the best of the next opportunities.”
The MotoGP world championship will be back on track for the next round at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit in Japan from 13-15 October.
