Dovizioso outlines the task ahead

Andrea Dovizioso’s second season in MotoGP brought both highs and lows, with a first premier class win at Donington accompanied by the disappointment of being beaten to fifth spot in the Championship in the final race at Valencia.

An impressive rookie season in 2008 with the satellite Scot Honda team saw the 23 year-old brought in by Repsol Honda for the 2009 campaign, which ended with Dovizioso missing out on fifth spot in the overall standings to Colin Edwards by a single point.

Dovizioso is determined to use his experience this year to good effect for the 2010 season, which he has already taken the first steps towards with the post-season test at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit.

“This year’s results have not been what everybody expected, starting with me,” admitted Dovizioso. “I didn’t feel comfortable enough with the bike to battle with the front pack, and the problem is that we can’t make any significant changes to the bike during the season, so Honda focused on preparing next year's bike. Unfortunately, I couldn’t up my speed during the year and sixth place in the championship is nowhere near my dream. It has been an important year for me, to learn with the future in mind, and I know that Honda is going to work hard. I’m sure that next year, although we have to make up lost ground, all of us will increase our performance.”

Dovizioso also cast a general eye over the season as a whole, and commented on the switch to riding a factory machine.

“The best moment was obviously the win at Donington Park, and the worst I would say in Portugal; we had a lot of problems that weekend,” he stated, going on to add, “There is a huge difference in all aspects. With a satellite team, you focus on using the full power of the bike, but in a factory team, you also have to think about how to improve it and that’s not easy.”

The former 125cc World Champion used the Valencia test to try out the 2010 prototype of his RC212V with promising results, and he aims to make further improvements at the next scheduled MotoGP test at Sepang in February.

“Although everything is not fixed, there has been a change,” he said. “We’ll have to continue working on it for Malaysia, and also on the engine, to have better control of the bike. I feel optimistic, and of course I think that it'll be better than, for example, our last race in Valencia. We have a lot of work ahead of us and lots of changes to make before the season starts, so we'll have to wait. But I'm sure that the direction we have taken over the three days (in Valencia) is the right one.”