MotoGP | Dovizioso: “The M1? Rossi has always understood a lot of technique”

Andrea Dovizioso’s start to the 2022 season continues to remain on disappointing tracks. The rider from Forlì was unable to qualify for Q2 at the French GP and continues to struggle to become familiar with the Yamaha M1, the M1 that is also putting Darryn Binder and, above all, Franco Morbidelli, in difficulty.

In the debriefing at the end of the day, after qualifying, Andrea did not pause to talk about today’s result, but about the choice made last year when he returned to racing with Yamaha after almost a sabbatical year. A choice dictated by the experience of 9-now 10-years earlier, when he raced for the Tech3 team and signed one of his best seasons in MotoGP.

“I went back to Yamaha because, as I said, I made that choice based on what I had seen in 2012, the year I raced with the M1. I knew it would be a little different, but I expected the main features they would have remained the same, because the DNA and the bulk of the bike remained very similar. “

Andrea underlined once again how the analytical criticisms made by Valentino Rossi in recent years towards the Yamaha M1 are also shared by him. Now Iwata’s bike is a perfect weapon, but only in the hands of Fabio Quartararo.

“However, I expected to find certain things a little different and as I have always thought, regardless of the results, Valentino has always understood a lot from a technical point of view. the fastest rider. Let’s say that when you are the first in Yamaha and you are a certain age maybe you are no longer considered too much and rightly so, it is normal, as it happened last year. But I share the things that Valentino complained about “.

Andrea Dovizioso, RNF MotoGP Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“There are some positive aspects of the bike, but there are others that make your life difficult and so I can only confirm what Valentino was saying and the difficulties he had in recent years. Then surely you can go fast, but you really have to ride in particular way, you have to do that kind of lines. Fabio immediately went fast and he already had the kind of riding that this bike requires. “

For the moment, therefore, it is difficult to expect radical changes in Dovizioso’s results. At the moment there does not seem to be a key to turning the season, so Dovizioso and Yamaha – after having already spoken a few weeks ago – should do it again shortly to understand their respective needs and projects.

“Every time I go to the track I’m banging my head against the wall trying to change certain things I can’t do. Now, if I were to tell you that my situation is going to change this season, I’d tell lies. Let’s see. Right now I don’t. I see the exit. By now I have done 11 races and if things could have changed, they would have already changed. “

“Two races ago I had a meeting with Yamaha to understand what their plans are. Because I don’t run so much to race. I was interested in finding out if I could help or just race. We talked openly, I liked it a lot but I didn’t get any answers. Definitive. We will definitely talk again shortly, in my opinion. But for the good of both of us “, concluded the rider of the RNF Racing Yamaha team.