Andrea Dovizioso: "Here's why they were giving us dirty looks!

Yamaha wants to get back to the top and, in addition to relying on a young rider (Augusto Fernandez) as a tester, has also gone all-in on Andrea Dovizioso, a former Tech3 rider from the period of collaboration with the Japanese manufacturer, as well as a rider with vast MotoGP experience. We should always remember his crucial role in taming a once-unruly Ducati (with the exception of Casey Stoner, 2007 world champion with the Red), which has now become the benchmark bike in today’s MotoGP. Will he manage it again with the Iwata brand? At last weekend’s EICMA in Milan, Dovizioso was one of the guests at the Yamaha Motor Europe stand and had the chance to talk in a live stream about his role and current events. There’s still a long way to go, but progress is there, as the rider from Forlì emphasized.

“I’m splitting testing duties with Augusto Fernandez. He’s young, so he does the wild cards!” Andrea Dovizioso began with a joke to explain part of his key role for the Iwata factory, with an eye to the future. “Next year will be even more demanding, we’ll have all the development work for the 2027 regulations,” Dovizioso pointed out, recalling the major revolution MotoGP will undergo. Yamaha hopes to arrive there with competitiveness very different from the current level. “No one’s satisfied enough because we always want more and we want to win. That has to be the approach; step by step we’re getting closer, and now the new project is arriving—not easy, but very interesting and fascinating.” The reference is clearly to the new V4 engine, which Fernandez will take back on track in the coming days in Valencia.

“They put me in between the riders and the engineers in the box to try to find the best possible communication. I’m a certain age, so I have a certain amount of experience,” he continued with a laugh. “There are truly competent people; the Yamaha project is really interesting and working with Max Bartolini is genuinely good. He’s gradually creating a very strong structure; it just takes time and patience—something nobody has in racing!” So what’s it like working with the engineers, “on the other side” compared to his long career? “More than on the other side, I’m in the middle. Now I look at the riders from a different perspective and I understand the engineers better when they used to give us dirty looks!” Dovizioso joked, then explained why. “Communicating with engineers is extremely complicated—getting the rider to stay calm and give clear feedback… Engineers don’t speak the same language as riders; that’s why they seek help from a former rider.”

There’s no shortage of comment on Fabio Quartararo, the undisputed reference point of the Yamaha project. “Fabio is an outrageous talent; everyone knows it and everyone sees it. And he’s very fiery! When he comes back into the box after a run on track… he’s intense,” he admitted. “But his energy is positive. He took some spectacular poles this year—sure, the bike has improved a lot, but he was able to add that little bit extra.” He also cracked a joke. “It’s not easy for me to talk to him, there’s also a MotoGP world champion!” Dovizioso said. “But we’re there to help all the riders; they’re the ones who can make the difference on track.” His best memory with Yamaha? “In 2012 I joined a satellite team from a Honda factory team. Everyone expected the decline of my career, but instead it was a spectacular year,” Dovizioso recalls. “I immediately felt comfortable with the bike and established an excellent relationship with Yamaha. That was enough for us to find each other again years later to work together.” The shared goal is clearly to get back to the top, and there’s no doubt: the commitment is certainly not lacking.