Andrea Dovizioso began race day at his home Italian Grand Prix without a complete lap in💞 morning warm-up, but finished it with his first ever dry MotoGP win.

The Ducatꦍi star, who qualified on the front row, was struck꧋ down by food poisoning overnight and his strength was soon put to the test when he suffered a scary 200mph wobble early in the race.

Dovi shrugged off the scare and settled into second behind pole sitter and world championship leader Maverick Vinales, by lap 6 of 23. The Ita꧟lian then unꦿleashed Desmosedici horsepower to blast past the Yamaha rider on lap 14, ultimately edging away to a 1.2s victory margin.

"Very strange day!" smiled Dovi. "I woꦅke up at 4:00am and I was sick. We didn't make the warm-up. Fortunately, we didn't have to try anything on the bike becaus꧟e our situation was really good.

"Then on the second lap I had big shaking on the straight and I was really out of control. But the change ꦿwe did with Brembo [kept the brake pads clℱose to the disc] fortunately.

"I didn't have energy before the race, so I was scared about that, but the reality was I was able to ride fast in a smooth way, that for me made a big differ𒉰ence during the race to stay behind Maverick.

"Ten laps to the end I decide to overtake him, but without a strategy. I saw that we are four riders in the group and I think it's bette෴r to be in front. We will see.

"🌳Most of the time Valentino has something for the end of the ra꧑ce, and here he is very strong, so I had that question mark. Maverick is very, very strong and when I saw him two laps to the end, +1.2s, I said 'f**k!'

"Just at the last corner I realised I was able to win. In the last lap I have eight tenths, but I couldn't understand if Maverick close t﷽he gap during the lap and if he was able to try to overtake me in the last corner. I didn't know.

"I did this podium at Mugello in the past with HRC and I was crying like Danilo today! It was really nice, but to be on top is a really big diffꩵerence, and to do it with Ducati is something really special. When you don't expect a result and you get it, it's very nice.

"I want to say thank-ཧyou to a lot of people because help ♈me a lot. Ducati, my team, all the fans."

Both of Dovizioso's previous MotoGP ❀wins were in damp or fully wet conditions, at Donington Park in 2009 and Sepang in 2016. Ducati meanwhile had not𒉰 won its home race since Casey Stoner in 2009.

Dovizioso is now second in the world ch♏ampionship, 26-points behind Vinales, but won't be making any grand claims about chal🉐lenging for the title at this stage.

"Every weekend is a different story. We have to be positive after this result, but we didn't change something special on the bike. That's why I'm not a guy - that I can say now - w🌺ho will fight fo﷽r the championship.

"A lot of people call me negative, but I call it realistic. Until now, we can be really fast in some races but o🎶ur base in 18 races is not good enough.

"The layout of this track suits the 🔴bike in a perfect way today. That's it. And we have an advantage in fi꧒fth and sixth gear.

"Next weekend we will see very easy [how competitive we are] in a completely diff☂erent track where the grip is very low and the asphalt is not so good. Last year we struggled a lot. Like I said, we didn't change something big here. That's why I'm realistic.

"To fight with them every weekend and to arrive at the end of the season and fight for the ch🍬ampionship will be difficult. We are here for that and for sure we are working for that.

"But I'm not the kind of rider, now, after this result who can say next weekend we will be there in the 💮same situation, because I know from the beginning of the season the negative and the positive of the bike."

New-for-2017 team-mate Jorge Lorenzo also briefly led the race in the early stages, before fading back to eighth𝓰.

"Like I've said from the beginning, I'm not surprised to see him struggling. Jorge is a really fast rider. Like in Jerez, when he's in a good mood, he's really strong. But in this moment our bike - this weekend was really good - but in all the other race we couldn't fight for the victory. So, it means there is something ꧋we have to improve. And for him, he doesn't have a lot of experience with all these problems and it's difficult to manage, I think."

And when Dovi p🎶ointed to his backside in front of the Ducati grandstand on the cool down lap, was it a reference to his food poisoning? "No! I was pointin🐲g to my name on my leathers; Desmo Dovi"

First free practice in Catalunya, featuring the revised chicane, startsও on Friday morni🥃ng.