Dovizioso hoping to bounce back from Sepang crash

Ahead of the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana this weekend Andrea Dovizioso is trying to keep a positive frame of mind and take the positives from the last round in Malaysia, where he was running in third for much of the race before he crashed out.

The battle for fifth place in the World Championship is one that Dovizioso is keen to finally win at round 17, and he goes into the last round with a four-point advantage over Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Colin Edwards. The Italian came home in fourth place in last year’s race at Valencia and a similar result would mark a decent end to the year for the 23-year-old.

“The atmosphere at Valencia is always incredible and that makes it a special way to finish the season,” Dovizioso stated in his pre-GP preview. “I’m really looking forward to the race, even though this is not actually one of my favourite tracks because the layout is quite slow and twisty. The grandstands around the track are always packed and the spectators can follow the action and see all of the race, so it’s kind of like a stadium environment.”

He added, “I’m coming into this weekend with mixed feelings after the last race. I could have had a good result in Malaysia if I hadn’t crashed so I’m really determined to do well here, for myself and for the team. I’d like to finish the year with a good result to thank my guys, and also Honda for all the work done this year. I had a decent result here last year so I’m determined to be fighting at the front this weekend again.”