The Italian, who has 15 MotoGP wins to his credit, took over Franco Morbidelli’s 2019-spec SRT M1 at the San Marino Grand Prix following his compatriot’s promotion to the factory Yamaha team, and Dovizioso will continue with the team to be renamed RNF , on an official M1 in 2022.
Having spent much of 2021 on sabbatical and last riding a Yamaha in 2012 before spending eight years at Ducati, Dovizioso has struggled to adjust to the M1 SRT.
He felt he made an important step during the Austin weekend, where he finished 13th, but struggled to ride naturally at the following week’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Misano, although he once again finished 13th.
Ahead of this weekend’s Algarve GP, Dovizioso said he is suffering in certain areas of the 2019-spec M1, but overall “is not driving well enough”.
“I don’t feel good about the bike, but I think the improvement I made in Austin after Misano was positive, and I think normal,” he said when asked by Motorsport.com on Thursday how he would rate his adaptation process so far.
“But what happened in the second round of Misano… I can’t be happy, but until the race I couldn’t lap in the dry.”
“In a situation like mine, compared to the other riders, I don’t have that instinct on the bike yet.”
“So I don’t know if it’s normal what happened in Misano, because we only rode in the dry part of the race.”
“But I think it’s a mixture of various things, because there is something on the bike, on this 2019 bike, that is not working quite right.
“And in that area I am losing. In the other aspects I am still not driving well enough.”
“So these two weeks created that situation, and MotoGP now is crazy. Everyone is fast and if you’re in my situation it’s not that easy to be in the middle of the pack.”
“But in general, in any case I am gaining experience, and everything is good, everything is important and it is nice to have the opportunity to ride the new bike at the end of the season.”
Asked if he could specify where he was losing more, Dovizioso added: “I’m losing on acceleration for sure.”
“I’m not that good at the start because I’m trying to accelerate, but there’s not the grip that I want, so I’m not that smooth.”
“And also in braking, compared to the new Yamaha, I am losing. I think the new Yamaha is able to slow down in a better way.”
“So we are working on small details. But if you put it all together, you lose time at the end of the lap – especially in my situation where I am not using the bike in the best way yet.”
