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MotoGP, Dovizioso convinced he can fight for title after Austrian win

"It was a strange and very important victory, but the work on the Desmosedici is not finished. Starting again after the accident? Sometimes you can't be too human"

MotoGP: Dovizioso convinced he can fight for title after Austrian win

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Victories are not all the same, but Dovizioso's at the Red Bull Ring is certainly special. Because it came after the announcement of his farewell to Ducati, but also after three races in which he seemed unable to ride his Desmosedici anymore. Maybe it was the feeling of liberation after the divorce, maybe the friendly circuit, maybe both, but Andrea just did the right thing at the right time. And timing is everything, too (if not especially in MotoGP).

“What did I feel? Strange sensations, like how strange this Sunday was - he said - It is never easy to start after an interruption, but my sensations were good. There were two or three points where I could brake really hard and there I was able to make a difference, but with Rins it would have been tough if he hadn't crashed. "

How did you feel crossing the finish line?

"I was unable to enjoy the last lap because I thought there was another one (laughs) because the illuminated scoreboard was wrong. Of course it was strange not to find friends and fans, but the situation I am experiencing is also strange ”.

How much did yesterday's announcement affect you?

“We are human, everything affects you, it goes without saying that nothing changes. But my decision didn't come overnight, as I had been digesting it for some time. Let's say that last night I slept a little more ".

Is this victory also a sort of revenge against those who did not believe in you?

“Not really, I'm focused on the championship regardless of my future. The main point is to be competitive, to be ready for the race, that's my goal, regardless of whether my future is with Ducati or not. That's not the problem, I have the chance to fight for the title and I want to make the most of it. The important thing is to be as strong as I was last year, I succeeded and I'm happy to have succeeded together with my team”.

Can MotoGP afford to lose a rider like you?

“You will have to answer this question. That's how motorsport is, sometimes things go one way and sometimes another. I can't do anything about it ”.

Have your relationships within the team changed?

"My relationship will not change because it is no different from that of the last few years".

What led you to win today?

“These tyres are making a big mess and in fact all the riders are having ups and downs. All you need to do is change your way of riding a little for nothing to work or, on the contrary, everything is fine. Today I was competitive, but I still don't feel perfectly comfortable, I have improved in braking but now we have to do it in the middle of the corner and in the first part of acceleration if we want to fight with the Yamaha and the Suzuki on the other tracks. Let's say that we have already done more than 50% of the work ”.

What were you missing in the previous races?

“At Brno and Jerez I had bad feelings, I couldn't brake and I was frustrated because I wasn't strong in any area. With the team we studied a lot and here we were able to put everything into practice, it was very important to get back to being competitive and above all to win. I had to adapt to the Michelins, I hadn't had the right approach because the set-up of the last few years wasn't working. Our sport is like this, we need to be ready, even in the next races. For example, at Misano we will find a new asphalt, it will be like starting from scratch ”.

What is your opinion on the accident between Zarco and Morbidelli?

“I will have to have another look at the images, I only saw them once and only the final part. The position of the two bikes on the track seemed very strange to me, I don't know why they found themselves at that point. Above all, Zarco was very far to the right, which means that he had done something strange, normally when you’re braking there, you don’t hold that trajectory”.

How do you get back on the bike after seeing those images?

“We are human, but in some cases, you mustn’t be too human. If you are too rational you can’t push yourself to the limit, so you just have to focus on what you need to do. We know that this is the bad part of our sport, today there were two bad accidents, I'm glad nobody got hurt ”.

Photo Courtesy © Dorna

 

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