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MOTOGP FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 5 / MAY 17-19, 2019 BUGATTI CIRCUIT / LE MANS, FRANCE P74 At the same time, Miller let Dovi pass, thinking he might have the pace to drag them both up to Marquez, only to be disappointed. But nor could he retake the posi- tion, and he was powerless to resist when an aggressive Petrucci caught them both, took third on lap 20, and demonstrated a clear lack of Ducati team orders with sustained pressure on Dovizioso, which the older rider steadfastly resisted. By the finish, Rossi had closed up again, second to fourth cov- ered by just over one second. The 27-lap race had started af- ter a strange and (for both riders, inexplicable) crash on the warm- up lap. Reale Avintia Ducati's Karel iii My Own Race: 44 POL ESPARGARO 6TH MOTOGP "Just five seconds off an HRC Honda after less than two years and a half, this is unbelievable," Espargaro said. "This means we have a good package, they are not unbeatable. When I was doing [1m]32.9-32.8s, I felt I couldn't continue doing that because I was so on the limit, and especially in the first corner, I had big lockings with 300 km/h. Also, I had some arm pump from moving the bike from one side to the other because I was simply on the limit, every lap. But I could do it, it means the bike can do it and even on the limit you can still continue doing it. I am so pleased with that." 93 MARC MARQUEZ 1ST MOTOGP "Of course here in Le Mans it's always difficult with the temperature and the weather, especially to- day," Marquez said. "I think this is the first time I have had a race where I had the soft tire in the front, but it was the safest option. I was focused on being consistent until I saw the gap increasing, I pushed a little bit more and into the low 32s until I saw I had two seconds. I'm happy with today's result, and it is fantastic to be able to take Honda's 300th premier class win!" 04 ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 2ND MOTOGP "I'm happy with my result because the conditions have been really tricky here all weekend, and nonetheless, we managed to seize second position in both the race and the championship," Dovi said. "That said, we need to stay focused and try to make further improvements if we want to fight with Márquez until the end. I couldn't keep his pace until the checkered flag because the rear tire dropped a bit too much, and in the final laps I also had to fend off Danilo's come- back. It was a good fight." NO SMOKES FOR DUCATI France's super-strict anti- tobacco rules saw the factory Ducatis drop the new-this-year Mission Winnow livery, replacing the words on the fairing flanks with the nicknames of the riders: "Dovi" and "Petrux." Although "Winnow" is a slogan rather than a brand, it is deemed to be tobacco advertising by associa- tion. The team risked massive fines should they have persisted with this livery. But the race organizers found themselves in- advertently exposed to the same risk. Promotional posters for the race showed three bikes—Dovi's Ducati, Rossi's Yamaha and Zarco's KTM—with the forbidden words clearly visible. Briefly... In a bizarre crash, both Karel Abraham (left) and Joan Mir (right) hit the deck on the warm-up lap.