Andrea Dovizioso’s return to a race weekend ended in 21st place. It was a normal race, with Dovi gaining experience with the Petronas team’s M1 and managing to stay in touch with the group until a long lap penalty mid-race for exceeding the track limits on several tracks Opportunities, removed him from the drivers up front. Dovizioso also found many positive aspects with regard to the tests that will take place again in Misano on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“More than the race, we have to talk about the weekend: We gathered a lot of information and it went well because we had the opportunity to drive a lot in the dry and do laps in the wet, both for me and for me Yamaha It was important to understand – explained Dovi – The race was good for learning and feedback, before the race I didn’t have the speed to stay in the group, I was at least half a second behind while I was in the race I stayed with the others and after a mistake and the long lap my pace has improved a lot. I was able to be much faster than in practice and set my fastest lap with two laps to go. Since the feeling with the motorcycle changed during the race, I tried a lot and have a good feeling in some areas. Now I have to put everything together, I tried to explain everything to the team in the best possible way today and now they have to help me put everything together. I had problems braking in free practice, while the last part of the race went much better and we need to understand why and what we need to do. Then we will work more on the middle of the bend, at the end of the bend and on the potential of the bike ”.
In the race, did you understand why all the riders who got on this bike in 2021 really struggled so hard?
“No, I think that’s normal. I don’t know how big the difference to the factory bike is and what exactly the difference is. Apart from that, only Fabio does something special and I am unable to understand and analyze all of it. The bike is special and has many advantages, but it has to be ridden in a special way and it takes time to adjust and understand everything. I still have the question mark I had before the weekend about the rear tire introduced last year because it’s a bit strange both on braking and how the bike improved at the end of the race. It will therefore be important to analyze and understand whether the cause is me or the bike or what has changed on the racing bike. Everything is new to me, I have a lot of feedback, but I don’t know why a lot of things happened. There were many moments in the race when I had good emotions and felt the strengths of the bike, even if I wasn’t able to realize its potential. It is important to be able to drive a race so consistently after 10 months without a race and to be able to be quick in the final phase, makes me happy, it is the best preparation for the test. In good weather, a test after the race is the best there can be. “
You said that the bike is special, can you explain that in more detail? You said there are some things about the bike that are different from what you were used to, can you tell us more? And will this be the team you will compete with next year?
“This is the team I’ll be riding a works bike with next year. I would say about the bike, it’s easy, you can see how Fabio drives, you have to brake very deeply and bring a lot of speed into the corners, this is the only way to exploit the bike’s potential, because the bike itself is asking thereafter. It’s a special thing, not all MotoGP motorcycles require this kind of riding, maybe the Suzuki, but the others don’t ”.
You have a lot of experience with other manufacturers, do you think this can help you adapt to the Yamaha faster? Do you think even lapping Misano, first in the race and then in the tests, could be useful in adapting to the bike and making it faster?
“A test after the race is definitely the best for everyone, both when there is something new to try and, as in my case at the moment, when there is nothing to try, but you have to get used to the bike because its potential is greater than what we’ve seen so far. Tomorrow I can recharge my batteries and then, if the weather is nice, I can do a lap for two days. I think that when it comes to adapting to the bike, a lot has to come from the rider, surely the team makes a difference because it takes a lot of help from the team to analyze and focus on the things that are needed, however If the change that needs to be made is great, like I need to do, a lot has to come from the driver. If I succeed, I can tell you by the end of 2022, but sure a large percentage will have to come from me.
Morbidelli came back from an injury and switched bikes, you already explained your current situation, Valentino is not in the best moment of his career and if we look at the other Yamaha riders, including Crutchlow and the rookies, all apart from Fabio, seems to be struggling. In your opinion, is there a problem with the bike that Quartararo masks?
“I can’t know in detail, but the strongest driver of any brand masks a lot every time, always. How much depends on who and how, each year. Fabio is undoubtedly doing something special. I have a hard time answering how much the bike is out of shape on certain things or why Fabio is the only one this year because in 2020 Morbidelli was in the lead and he’s figured out how to get the most out of the bike , I can’t know now because I’ll be the first to not make the most of it. It is too early to talk about it ”.