The Italian interrupted his sabbatical year after leaving Ducati to return to MotoGP for the last five races of 2021 riding a Yamaha 2020 of the WithU RNF team, which was left vacant by the injured Franco Morbidelli, who made the jump to the official team after recovering from knee.
For Andrea Dovizioso, the attractiveness of the agreement with Yamaha was that he was going to have an official factory motorcycle in 2022, although he was part of the satellite team. In the first tests of the year, held in Sepang last weekend, the Italian realized that the new M1 is not going to be an easy colt to deal with.
Dovizioso finished 22nd in the combined time (1.59.284), more than 1.1 seconds behind the fastest, Enea Bastianini, and almost a second behind Fabio Quartararo, on paper with the same bike as the veteran rider from Forli, who is 36 years old next month.
“I can’t be happy with the speed or the pace,” admitted Dovizioso at the conclusion of rehearsals.
“During these two days I’ve realized that if you don’t ride the Yamaha like Fabio does, it’s very difficult to go fast, this bike, as it is now, only he is capable of riding it. It’s a strange situation, you have to ride like him to be competitive and get very good things out of the bike”, a situation similar to the one that many criticized Honda, assuring that his bike can only be ridden by Marc Márquez.
Runner-up in the world with Ducati between 2017 and 2019, Dovizioso faces his 15th season in the premier class, which he reached in 2008, which allows him to have experience and knowledge like few others in MotoGP, and detect what the bike needs to go Quick.
“You have to work like Fabio on the entry and center of the corner, but the bike is not as good on the exit and you can’t take advantage of that point to be fast. This makes it difficult to go fast like that, as Fabio does. He brakes very good, deep, and he manages to be very quick in the middle of the corner, letting the bike flow. He does not try to use the rear so much to accelerate, he gains a lot in braking and in the middle of the corner. This is something very good that we should try do us”, he values.
“I tried to study the data, but it is very difficult to copy the other drivers. You can study it, analyze it, understand if there is something you can do, apply it. Maybe it can help you to be better in some areas where others are, but in general you have to find your own way. But in my opinion, right now there is only that way: to drive like Fabio. This is a difficult moment and I still don’t have the necessary confidence.”
MotoGP now travels to Indonesia, where the weekend will feature three new days of testing at the unprecedented Mandalika circuit. That change of scenery, according to Dovizioso, will not bring big differences.
“Today in MotoGP everyone is competitive, it’s not like before, when your characteristics came out more or less depending on the track. Now we’re all very close on all the circuits, so if you don’t use the package well you have, you easily fall behind. To be honest, I was hoping to be further ahead in adapting to the bike, because that’s what can bring me closer to the times.”
As his technical chief, Ramón Forcada , told Motorsport.com , “Dovizioso knows what he has to do to go fast, but it’s hard for him”, and he still seems to be having a hard time at Sepang.
“With the five races and tests from last year, as well as this year, it is clear what you have to do with the bike to be faster and what is not working and why it is difficult to be quick on acceleration. and use the grip to go fast,” he admits.
“The situation is complicated because you no longer have aces up your sleeve to use, you have to go in a certain direction and that’s it, because the bike has very special characteristics. In my opinion in terms of chassis, braking and corner insertion, It’s still a great bike, but it has other aspects where we suffer a lot, so if you don’t ride in the specific way that Fabio does, everything becomes a little more complicated .”
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: MotoGP
Photo de: MotoGP
Photo de: MotoGP
Photo de: MotoGP
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Dorna
Photo de: Dorna
Photo de: Dorna
Photo de: Dorna
Photo de: Dorna
Photo de: Dorna
Photo de: Dorna
Photo de: Dorna
Photo de: Dorna
Photo de: Dorna
Photo de: Dorna
Photo de: Dorna
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
