Cal Crutchlow had warned Andrea Dovizioso: her return to competition would not be easy. He himself had carried out this operation, and, after three stints, the Englishman was not unhappy to find his mission as test pilot. He had noticed, upon resuming the life of a starter, that MotoGP, in just a few months, had changed a lot. Dovi took over at Petronas and, indeed, he is suffering in terms of pure performance. But the Italian is not there to play for the title for Yamaha…
After a few months spent refining his motocross technique in a sabbatical year which was an early retirement until Maverick Vinales does not decide to upset everything with a premature departure, Andrea Dovizioso returned to competition. And on the handlebars of the motorcycle that he no longer hoped for: the Yamaha . For a former three-time world vice-champion, this is a priori the opportunity to come back strong in the game. But that's the theory. In practice, he recovered the 2019 version of the M1 with which it was vegetating Morbidely and, at 35, he understood that his younger colleagues did not wait for him to make great progress.
And then, what Dovi realizes is that he may have underestimated the big difference in philosophy between a Yamaha and Ducati, unless he overestimated his ability to adapt. Because this argument and, above all, this admission of not having yet succeeded in finding a driving style adapted to the Japanese is repeated ad nauseam.
In fact, the results are modest, even if the first points have been scored. The impression is good too: “ especially with the frame, the feeling is wonderful » he said before returning to his reef: “ but of course, that's only part of the package. I need to be faster and ride better to understand the bike… ».
Andrea Dovizioso: “I'm pretty sure the 2022 bike will stay largely the same"
Andrea Dovizioso was not only hired to obtain results, but also with a view to the evolution of the 2022 prototype. His experience and the baggage he brings from his period Ducati can help technicians Yamaha with a view to 2022. On this point, he gives an indication: “ I'm pretty sure the bike will stay largely the same ».
Dovi ends by emphasizing the added value he can bring to Yamaha , and which is not seen on a timesheet or ranking sheet: “ the feedback I can give to engineers is very important, they need a lot of information. Because I can use my experience to explain the performance of this bike. Yamaha riders can obviously give a lot of feedback. But it's not so easy to understand what really happens to the motorcycle and why. This is why I think that my return is very important for Yamaha » he assures Motoracing.
