Andrea Dovizioso Wins MotoGP Grand Prix of Catalunya 2017 from Marc Marquez

Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso won his second consecutive MotoGP race on Sunday, turning in an imperious performance to clinch the Grand Prix of Catalunya.

After starting in seventh place, Dovizioso moved through the field seamlessly, eventually overtaking Honda riders Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa—who finished second and third, respectively—to take the chequered flag.

It was a day to forget for the Yamaha riders, as Valentino Rossi came home eighth and world championship leader Maverick Vinales was only good for 10th.

Dovizioso Wins Again

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Off the line pole-sitter Pedrosa preserved his advantage, but there was a hairy moment for Marquez further back in the field, as he came into contact with Danilo Petrucci off the line. Marquez recovered and eventually moved into third.

Meanwhile, Jorge Lorenzo took the lead from Pedrosa, who looked vulnerable early on. Indeed, the Honda man was overtaken by his team-mate Marquez, too.

With the world champion on the charge, Lorenzo couldn't keep first place for long. The home crowd was delighted to see Marquez take the lead and Pedrosa sneak into second, courtesy of the MotoGP Twitter feed:

Lorenzo started slipping down the order, and Dovizioso went the other way. The Ducati man showed excellent pace to recover from seventh on the grid.

Having won the Italian grand prix last time out, Dovizioso showed a lot of confidence and was quickly onto the two Honda drivers up front. As the Moto Race Feed noted, there wasn't much to choose between the leaders at this point:

Dovizioso had the best pace, though. First, he took Marquez—who had fallen back into second behind his team-mate—on the inside, and after biding his time behind Pedrosa, he easily moved through on the straight with nine laps remaining.

The Italian was on course for back-to-back victories at this stage, as he laid down the gauntlet for a Honda response. Marquez responded, as he retook second spot and kept the gap steady for a spell.

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Dovizioso, however, still looked strong up top, and he slowly extended his lead beyond a second. The leader had settled into a brilliant groove out front, per ThePitCrewOnline:

As the race entered the final stages, Dovizioso built a gap over Marquez. The Ducati rider enjoyed the moment, coasting over the line ahead of the Honda pairing.

There is no doubt Dovizioso is in the form of his career. Prior to last week's triumph at Mugello, he had secured only two wins in nine years in MotoGP.

He'll have his eyes on the world title as well now. Dovizioso is just seven points behind Vinales in the standings. With his tail up, the Ducati man will feel confident of overhauling that deficit in a fortnight's time, when MotoGP heads to the Netherlands.