Departing Ducati MotoGP pilot Andrea Dovizioso says his impending exit from the Italian manufacturer “was difficult, but not that much” following recent friction between the two parties.
Dovizioso has competed with Ducati in the premier class since leaving Tech 3 at the conclusion of the 2012 campaign, helping Ducati to develop the Desmosedici back into a race winner following several barren years after the exit of ’07 MotoGP champion Casey Stoner at the end of ’10.
While not being the first to break Ducati’s winless streak-that accolade going to Andrea Iannone at the Austrian Grand Prix in ’16-he has claimed 14 victories in red since ’16, while also becoming the closest man to deny six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez the crown in recent seasons with a trio of runner-up championship results across the ’17-’19 period.
Reports of friction between Dovizioso and the team-particularly with Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali and MotoGP general manager Gigi D’alligna- were borne out following the release of Dovizioso’s ‘Undaunted’ documentary, the former stating he reckoned Dovizioso lacked “a touch of madness”, while the latter added that he believed Dovizioso should behave “more instinctively” in battle.
The ’04 125cc world champion then blindsided the paddock by announcing he would leave Ducati at the conclusion of the ’20 season just prior to qualifying for the Austrian GP last month, despite being left with very little opportunity to continue in MotoGP with competitive machinery.
Dovizioso hinted that the “Italian” influence within the team had severely affected team relations in recent years, while also making it clear that just being in MotoGP without a front-running opportunity “is not what I want.”
“It was difficult, but not that much for many reasons,” explained Dovizioso.
“In eight years I’ve done a lot of things, the beginning was so difficult and so hard but we’ve grown up together and it was a really important experience.
“When you work with Italian people it’s very positive and very nice because you can make big steps and achieve the almost impossible, especially with Ducati as there are some really good people inside that are really intelligent.
“On the other side it’s really difficult because the Italian approach is very particular, and it’s not that easy to be always in agreement and we’ve fought a lot in these years because we didn’t have the same idea in how to progress.
“It’s pretty hard what’s happened now, but at the end I was always focussed on the championship and I’m pretty happy with what I did and I don’t have to continue because I didn’t make the important result.
“Just to be in MotoGP after the results and career I have had is not what I want, and I’ve already left that situation where I couldn’t fight for the championship and that is bad.
“We’ll see what happens in the future, in the moment I don’t have any plans but for sure I will have something, what kind I don’t know but I’m pretty relaxed about it because I’m focussing on this championship and I will try the maximum until the end.”
Dovizioso also opened up on the struggles that afflicted him in the opening three rounds of the season-at the Jerez double-header and Brno respectively-earmarking struggling to adapt his braking technique as a key reason to his lack of speed early on, an issue he feels he and Ducati made good progress on in Austria.
“From the beginning the tyre was different and everyone has had to adapt to the new situation, and this has been quite hard for us,” said Dovizioso.
“You have to manage the tyre under braking, through the corner and on the exit in a different way, you really have to understand and adapt more than in the past.
“If I’m not good in the braking (zones), I can’t be fast because this is one of my biggest advantages, so I have to gain there.
“Fortunately we were able to stay calm and study a lot and we were able to find a better balance in Austria and from the first practice we were able to set the bike up in a better way, especially the way I could approach the braking.
“We followed more in the way I rode last year, I tried too much to adapt my style to the new tyre, but not in a good way. I still don’t have everything under control, so I am pretty good in some aspects but not in every area.
“I hope we can make a step because we need that to be competitive at other tracks.”
