Argentina, MotoGP, J3, Andrea Dovizioso conference: "I'm not very happy with the way the tires worked" (Full)

The Argentine Grand Prix post-race conference brought together Marc Márquez, Valentino Rossi et Andrea Dovizioso.

As usual, we report here the raw words of Andrea Dovizioso, without the slightest journalistic interpretation.

Andrea, you must be satisfied with this 3rd place, even if losing 2nd on the last lap is perhaps hard to swallow...

Andrea Dovizioso : “Yes, that's the way we have to look at the weekend, because our goal was to be on the podium, and we did that. From this point of view, we are happy to have scored important points on a bad circuit. But I'm not very happy with the way the tires performed during the race. I couldn't be as fast as I wanted during the last 10 laps, in order to create a gap with Vale. So Vale was able to study the way I drive very well, and was able to pass me on the last lap. I couldn't respond, but 3rd is OK. "As I'm not very happy with the way the tires performed, we need to study that and I think it will be very important to analyze and understand what we can do."

After testing, were you resigned to finishing 2nd this weekend behind an inaccessible Marc?

" Yes of course. When Marc is like that, he is unbeatable. And unfortunately, this is nothing new with Marc, on certain circuits and at certain times. So we have to look at the bigger picture and try to get as many points as possible.”

You seemed less aggressive today than in Qatar…

“It’s simple, last year I was at least a second slower than what I did today. I think our progress is huge, and that's why our goal was the podium. And we did it! We must be really happy about this. It's not enough because we are fighting with very big drivers, but I think with our speed I was constantly second during the race. Last year I finished sixth because a lot of riders did crazy things and crashed. So I think the improvement is huge.”

During the first part of the race, you looked like you could overtake Valentino in the straight but you didn't do it. Was it strategy?

“He overtook me and he wanted to stay in front. In this part of the circuit I was faster but I also had to manage the tire temperature, and if you do the straight without being behind another driver it's always better. There were over 15 laps left so I didn't need to overtake Vale at that point. That's why I did this. It was my positive part of the route.”