Second day of testing at the Jerez tests also for Dovizioso, who doesn’t hide the inner difficulties of having to adapt his riding style to the new bike in a context as competitive as MotoGP.
Did you have the chance to try out the new Yamaha, what are the main differences compared to your bike from last season?
“The biggest difference is felt when braking – said Dovi – the responsiveness at the front is much better. The engine has changed too, so a lot of things change, but the bike’s DNA stays the same, good or bad.”
Do these changes to the new bike respond to any issues you’ve had over the season? Do they make your access to Yamaha easier, so to speak?
“It undoubtedly reflects my expectations, plus the bike already has an excellent benchmark in Quartararo’s performance so I already have several dates to work on. I think that Fabio has a special feeling with this bike, even if I can be fast, I haven’t found the right automatisms yet, I still have to study the data a lot and continue to adapt to this new driving style. Sometimes I have to stop to revise everything, you can’t imagine how difficult it is on these levels to reverse certain automatisms when driving. It will take some time, unfortunately the wind did not help us to make good comparisons today, but we are improving. I’m not in the top group, but the pace improved in the afternoon. “
In conversation with Fabio, compared to other manufacturers, he didn’t seem enthusiastic about what Yamaha brought to these tests. Do you share his concerns?
“Fabio and I are in different worlds. His feeling with the bike is such that he can perceive certain details better and thus also understand how much certain components actually improve or not. As for me, I still find it hard to identify with this new bike. It can therefore adapt gradually while I am still trying to get the maximum potential out of this bike. “
You mentioned a step forward earlier in relation to braking. Could this give you a way to ride this bike more aggressively?
“Yes, the ability to brake hard at the front opens up the possibility of more aggressive riding, but having approached this bike relatively recently I can say that I have a Yamaha compared to what I rode last season I drive more aggressively. ” not easy. With the previous bike you could approach the corners with a different style, but that means you lose a lot of speed in other sectors. “
You often speak of “instinctive riding” that is still missing on this new bike. Is it just a matter of lapping or more can you do to fix this?
“It’s all up to the driver, since I’ve already been through it, I know what it means to have to change your driving style, I know how difficult it can be. It’s also about how much you can adapt, certain automatisms are difficult to eliminate, in this case that depends a lot on the driver. We took steps forward this afternoon. “
Would it have made sense to let you test the Yamaha 2022, also in view of Fabio’s criticism that you had more points of view?
“I don’t think my engagement would have changed much. It is clear that, according to Fabio, there have not been any major changes at the moment, but we also have to consider the possibility that next year” will be the chassis and components that we saw today may be different, it will be up to Yamaha to make certain decisions. From this point of view, I personally don’t see any major problems on the horizon. “
Coming from the Ducati, did you see their improvements in the tests today? What can you tell us
“I saw Bagnaia finish with an exceptional time but I don’t think we saw much of the Ducati, the other riders set the same times as last season. It’s also hard to say what they have been working on, if you just look at the picture results “.
So for you it’s just a matter of resetting certain automatisms when riding in order to get the most out of this bike?
“I don’t think it is possible to completely eliminate the automatisms, I think the driver’s skills keep working and gradually improving without going back. For me it’s like that at the moment, if I’m among the first, it means that I’m fine and my driving style will be different, it’s all a question of adaptation. “