The press conference ahead of the Grand Prix of the Americas brought together Marc Márquez, Andrea Dovizioso, Valentino Rossi, Alex Rins, Jack Miller and Joe Roberts.
As usual, we report here the raw words of Andrea Dovizioso, without the slightest journalistic interpretation.
You finished 3rd in Argentina behind Valentino, and you seemed disappointed. You arrive here in Austin, which is not necessarily a Ducati-friendly track. Do you expect a similar weekend in Argentina where you are beaten for 2nd place?
Andrea Dovizioso : “I am very satisfied with the weekend in Argentina because our speed was very good and we did not expect that. I'm happy because it confirms that we have a good base, so it will be good if it's like that. Of course, Marc has shown in the past that he is the king of this circuit, so it will be very difficult for everyone to fight with him. But no matter what, we have to bring home as many points as possible and we are focused on that, and we know that anything can happen during the weekend. We will have to take into account the tires, the conditions, the weather. I'm relaxed, we have to work like everyone else, and see tomorrow when we put our wheels on the track. But our base is pretty good, so I expect to be more competitive than last year.”
Where do you think you can improve from last year?
“I think we're a little more balanced than last year, so I think we can be a little better everywhere, and that's why in Argentina our speed was pretty good in every session. And that's why I believe we can be more competitive from the start here. I don’t think we have a perfect balance to be really competitive and fight for victory here, but you never know.”
Is the only possibility of beating Marc Márquez on Sunday if he encounters a problem?
“I think it will be very, very difficult but nothing is impossible.”
Danilo Petrucci said that the Ducatis suffer on the bumps, especially in the long right-hander before curve 19. Is this true and why?
“Regarding what Danilo said, what we can say is how we feel on the bike. We don't have a very good feeling in this part of the track, but it's difficult to know if it's the same with the other bikes. This is one of the places where we suffer but I don't know if this is the point where we really lose on this track. But I think and I expect to be more competitive this year, so I'm not focusing on that and we'll see tomorrow in free practice where our level is.”
What is your opinion on the penalty that was given to Cal Crutchlow in Argentina? Are you going to talk to the Safety Commission about this tomorrow?
“The Safety Commission will definitely be fun tomorrow (laughs) and it will be important to talk about that. The rule is clear and I don't think Cal gained any advantage with what he did. But he moved a little when the race started. So I think we can talk about that, and we should, to try to understand if there's another way to handle these situations. I mean… It was clear that Cal didn't gain anything from this and he didn't do this on purpose. But the rule says that if you move, you make a mistake. I think it would be very difficult to accept that if I were Cal and I can understand how angry he is, but of course we have to talk about it in the Safety Commission, because if you have to interpret every start it becomes difficult. That's why they decided to have this rule, but it's not good to lose a race because of that. Really not good, especially if your pace is good.”
Changes were made to the surface this year to try to eliminate the bumps. Do you remember the changes made last year and what do you think?
“I haven't done my reconnaissance tour yet, I will do it later to see the differences. I'm worried because it's not really possible to solve the problems that exist on this track, which is really bad because it's one of the most beautiful in our championship. So I think the situation is not easy to manage. The problem is that there are bumps everywhere and it's very difficult to ride a motorcycle, not just to be fast. It was very difficult. It looks like the asphalt, or the ground beneath the asphalt, is moving everywhere. So it's difficult to repair unless you do a complete job. At least, I think.”
Social Media Question: What is your favorite memory of Nicky Hayden?
“I met Nicky at the start of my career in the world championship because I was at Honda. So I have a lot of memories with Nicky, when I was in 125 and 250, because we sometimes had to go to Motegi during the winter, like all the HRC riders. And also the years spent at Ducati, where I sometimes shared time with him because it was always pleasant. A funny moment happened at an event in Japan. We took a taxi together, him, my manager and me. He was sitting in front and pushing the taxi driver a lot because, as you know, taxis are very slow in Motegi. They have white gloves. He was really pushing him to be a little quicker because it was taking over 3 hours to get to the airport, and it was pretty funny. He always had that American, really relaxed style, and it was nice to spend time with him.”
