First DNF of season for Dovizioso

Andrea Dovizioso was left frustrated with the outcome of his Czech Grand Prix after an early crash necessitated a first retirement of the season.

The Italian was running fourth when he fell on lap four, the Italian confessing he had been struggling with front-end stability for much of the weekend prior to the tumble.

Having been fastest in the wet morning warm-up, Dovizioso was disappointed at being unable to challenge for a podium, insisting that he could have run the same pace as the leaders had been able to stay upright.

"I recovered a couple of positions at the start and in the first few laps I didn't want to lose contact with the riders in front so I was really pushing as hard as possible," the Repsol Honda rider said. "Already in a few corners I had some warnings from the front and then it went in turn nine. It's a pity - I made a mistake and it cost me dear because the 1min 58secs pace that the lead bunch were running was one that I could also have maintained today.

"During the whole weekend we've been at the limit with the front end and today the strong wind made it worse. We needed a good result here so it's disappointing. When I was in the middle of the track it was pretty scary because the riders behind were going either side of me, so actually I was lucky that the consequences weren't worse."

Although not his first crash in a race this season - following his tumble from second in Barcelona - this is Dovizioso's first DNF on the board.