Dovizioso puzzled by unprecedented problem

Andrea Dovizioso took a creditable fifth in his first race as a Repsol Honda rider in Qatar, a ride that convinced the Italian that more work is needed to create harmony between the RC212V and Bridgestone tyres. The Italian had to battle for fifth after a storming start in Losail, and was confused about why he had to make some big changes along the way.

“I didn’t start very well, but I recovered some positions. After three laps I had my first big problem, with the front,” said ‘Dovi’ after the dust had settled.

“I couldn’t enter the corners fast like I did in practice, and I really don’t know why that was. I have never had that problem; not this weekend or ever. I had to use rear slide, so after five or six laps my tyre was used up.

“The surface wasn’t that much different to what we had been on over the course of the weekend. It is just that we didn’t have a good setup for the Bridgestones, and we need to work on that for Japan."

Dovizioso was the highest placing Honda behind one Ducati and three Yamaha machines.