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Andrea Dovizioso has declared what everyone knew by now, this is his last season in MotoGP. After 21 years of honoured career, a world title and many successes, the time has come for Dovi to turn the page. Unfortunately, his farewell is not at the zenith of his career, but it is an evil common to other riders (Valentino and Lorenzo, the last in chronological order).
For many observers, Andrea should have stopped earlier, after his divorce from Ducati, the manufacturer with which he intertwined his destiny and his best years, suffering a lot before having the satisfaction of winning with the red bike. "What on earth made him do it?" many people wondered when he decided to embark on a new adventure with Yamaha in Razali's RNF team.
At that moment Aprilia wanted him as a test rider. With the benefit of hindsight, if he had said yes to Noale, now Dovizioso would probably be carried in triumph as the saviour of his homeland, the man who transformed the RS-GP from a jalopy to a custom-built car. It would have been the easiest way: limited commitment, no risk and maybe some wild cards, should the desire arise.
For an analytical person like Andrea, it would have been an almost obvious choice, but Dovi is not just a person but a rider and there are things that reason cannot control. Racing is not a simple job, there is always that fire called passion to burn, and you need challenges to feed it.
In the middle of last year Dovizioso was at home having fun with motocross bikes, but a series of lucky (for him) events opened a door that he believed closed, that of Yamaha. At that moment he understood that fate had given him a second chance. Because the M1 had remained in his head since 2012 when, left without a seat by the official Honda team, he found a place in the Tech3 satellite squad. These were not the years in which the bikes of the private teams were identical to those of the factory teams, on the contrary, if a rider went too fast, Yamaha had no problem taking away a few hundred revs for the next race. Despite everything (at a certain point he even had to put his hand into his wallet to buy the brake discs he wanted) Andrea had a good year: 6 podiums and 4th place in the championship, behind Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Stoner, the best of the privateers. He scored 130 points more than Spies, who was on the factory team bike.
Dovi felt that place was his, but Valentino left Ducati, Yamaha welcomed the prodigal son and Andrea found himself in an official team, but one where no one wanted to go at the time.
The story continues as you all know, but that M1 remained in the head of the man from Forlì. So, when they offered him a factory bike, he said yes. Madness? We have already said, Dovizioso is anything but stupid and he faced that risk aware of how big it was. Huge, even, after coming from 8 years in Ducati, Yamaha's nemesis in terms of characteristics.
Was he wrong? It depends. From the point of view of the results, certainly yes, because seeing Dovi scrape together a few points is a spectacle that no true enthusiast wants to see. From Andrea's point of view, probably not.
The desire to get back in the game at 36 is still to be applauded, the right (also) to make mistakes he has earned over the years. Not to mention that he was the one who paid for the mistake, the price is a season in which he is unable to be competitive, in which he has to watch the group from the bottom of the field. For a rider used to fighting for victory, there is no worse punishment.
However, he accepted it, without ever losing his calm. When he complains about Yamaha, he does it more thinking about what the others will find, because there is no more time for him in MotoGP. After Valencia he will leave the paddock and embark on another challenge, on motocross tracks, with youngsters, even if Andrea does not want to reveal much in the way of details yet.
In November he will go out of the gates of the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia knowing that he has done everything he wanted, that he has won and lost while remaining coherent with himself. For this he will be able to look to the future with his head held high.
