Andrea Dovizioso has spoken to the media for the very first time following the conclusion of his three-day test with Aprilia at the Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto. The Italian offered his opinion on the 2021 RS-GP, a potential return to MotoGP™ and what his future plans are with the Noale factory.
The three-time MotoGP™ runner-up described riding a different MotoGP™ bike for the first time in eight years as "emotional", before saying he had "a good feeling" with Aprilia's RS-GP. He revealed plans to ride the bike again on the 11th and 12th of May at Mugello, but that a second test is the only plan for the coming weeks and months, with no mention of a possible wildcard appearance just yet.
The Italian remained tight-lipped over future plans but was adamant he wants to make a MotoGP™ return: "Next, we will do another test so we can work on some other details. I think we will organise another one at Mugello in one month more or less. At this moment, all we have on the table is this next test in Mugello. MotoGP is still my passion and I would like to race next year. I think it was smart to be on track and I'm really happy because Aprilia gave me the possibility to do that in the right way."
Ergonomics was the big topic of conversation, with Dovizioso countlessly repeating the difficulty of feeling comfortable on a MotoGP™ machine after just two and a bit days of riding: "You can immediately feel the difference from what you rode in the past but to understand the details is very difficult. You have to push really hard but you also have to be comfortable on the bike to understand a lot of details.
"To be there fighting for an important lap time or position is a different story. To do that you need the right position on the bike. It takes time to push the bike to the limit and feel comfortable on the bike. I think it’s too early for me to go into any details, it’s too early for me so I don’t think it’s a good idea to explain to the media. Like every bike, it has positives and negatives, which is normal, but I had a really good feeling."
The former Ducati man wouldn't be drawn on what sort of laptimes he was able to get down to on Aprilia's premier class machine, only admitting that they "weren't too bad". Instead, Dovizioso is hoping Aprilia can make the changes he's requested for their next test at Mugello, before then being able to push and truly discover the potential of the RS-GP.
"After one month, I hope Aprilia can make some changes to help with my position. If you want to push really hard, you have to look at the small details and to understand everything clearly you have to feel comfortable. Until you have that situation, I think it’s stupid to try to push. When you don’t feel comfortable, you’re not able to be on the limit during braking, entry and exit and you have to do that in order to fully understand all of the details. There are for sure some things really nice and some things that need to be better, but every bike is like that."