MotoGP News
In attendance at the prestigious Bologna Motor Show this past weekend was Repsol Honda MotoGP rider Andrea Dovizioso.
When the 2010 Bologna Motor Show open its doors to the public on Saturday, Dovizioso was greeting fans at the stand for the Italian newspaper, Gazzetta dello Sport. Dovi spoke to the press about the upcoming MotoGP season.
For 2011, the 24-year-old Italian will compete on the Repsol Honda RC212V next to Dani Pedrosa and newcomer Casey Stoner, who joins HRC (his Ducati Team seat was filled by nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi).
Andrea Dovizioso (HRC MotoGP) says: "The 2011 season looks like being an uncertain but fantastic one. Lots of us will be competing for the title and our Honda will be the leading bike."
"We have already shown its strong points this year and now the technicians are working hard to improve it further. In my head. MotoGP is packed with talent, so in the end it’s the approach to the race – including concentration – that makes the difference."
Later on in the Bologna Motor Show, Dovizioso also discussed his teammate Pedrosa, who was the only one able to take the 2010 MotoGP title from Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo but ended up injured, and the newcomer, Stoner.
Andrea Dovizioso says: "Dani and I talk every now and again in the motorhome and sometimes we have breakfast together. He is very closed but he is a good lad and I respect him. Casey is an incredible talent."
"When you see him on the track you feel daunted because he rides so powerfully. But he is inconsistent, or at least he has been on a Ducati, which is a particular sort of motorcycle. He either won or he fell. Let’s see how he performs with Honda."
Dovi was also questioned about who will be the front-runner for 2011 MotoGP.
Andrea Dovizioso says: "You know Jorge (Lorenzo) hasn’t been my favorite, ever since we raced in the lower categories. But this year he has dominated and deserved everything he has won. What if Rossi hadn’t been injured? Who knows?"
"But something has changed there at a psychological level, for everyone. I am still convinced that Jorge would have won the world title anyway. And for 2011 he is obviously in pole position."
And of course, he weighed in on the legendary Valentino Rossi, the Italian who is a challenge both on and off the track.
Andrea Dovizioso says: "We are all conditioned, by the past, by human relationships, by the situation, when we try to overtake one rider as opposed to another. Perhaps it’s even more so with him because, if you beat him, it’s immediately in the news, even if it’s only for fifth place."
"Then maybe another time you come second and they don’t write about you because he isn’t involved. That’s a little unjust."
Also joining Dovi at the 2010 Bologna Motor Show was his fellow countryman, Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Gresini Honda MotoGP).
