DOVI’: ‘DON’T UNDERESTIMATE ME’

He’s been MotoGP runner-up for the last three years and a cut above all but Marc Marquez. Colin Young thinks Dovi doesn’t get the recognition he deserves…

● ‘I fight against a very big champion and it is difficult to beat him’

● ‘For sure there is a margin and everyone can do better’

Andrea Dovizioso holds deep belief that he is a worthy challenger for the MotoGP world championship. That’s why he races. And he has no time for the doubters who dismiss him as likeable journeyman. A perennial runner-up.

It’s a tag born out of Dovi’s three consecutive years (2017-19) finishing second to Honda hero Marc Marquez.

It has taken the incomparable Marquez, who is quickly chasing down the all-time records of Giacomo Agostini and Valentino Rossi, to stop Dovi’s title surge. And over the past three seasons it is only Dovi who has consistently laid a glove on Marquez for the championship crown.

Dovi has won 12 races, crushing the count of Maverick Vinales (6) who is seen as saviour by Yamaha. The retired Jorge Lorenzo is next with three wins over that period followed by Alex Rins (2).

The peerless Marquez, with 27 wins (2017-19), is unsurprisingly on another planet. “Unfortunately I fight against a very big champion and it is difficult to beat him, for anyone,” Dovizioso said.

“For sure there is a margin and everybody can do better, but I think over the past three years I have managed my championship in a very good way.”

The vibe that he is underrated is noted by Dovi, but given scant recognition by the 33-year-old Italian who has impressively upgraded his riding, fitness and mentality against Marquez.

“I have this feeling from some people but I don’t care. A lot of people are in the paddock for a long time so they think they know more than they really do,” Dovi said. “And they are not so closely involved to know all the details. Normally the statistics say that a rider who has not won lot in the past could not win in the future if winning just means the bike is better.

“I think this is a limited way of thinking but everyone is free to think what they want. I really don’t care.

“I know what I have changed, what I learned and understood to be a winning racer and be able to fight for the championship for the past three years.”

Prior to his step forward in 2017 Dovi had won just two races with Honda (2009) and Ducati (2016).

QUALIFYING: “I have to learn”

If he is to go one better and topple Marquez this season Dovizioso says he must improve his performance in the maximum grip, new tyre qualifying runs that are now crucial in MotoGP. Conceding grid spots to qualifying speedsters such as Marquez and Fabio Quartararo only adds to the race pressure and overtaking load.

In 2019 Dovizioso never qualified on pole and he started tenth or worse in five races. In only one of those did he carve through to the podium, a second place at Aragon. “I am very good when the bike slides and the way to ride the bike and manage the race and tyres,” Dovizioso said.

“But it’s different in practice. When the grip is really good I am not the best at using the potential of the bike and that was a big limit last year, many times I started too far at the back. For sure that is what I have to learn.”