Dovizioso disappointed with season result
Added on Friday, November 20th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Dovizioso disappointed with season result
Andrea Dovizioso has declared that last year’s sixth place finish in the championship was far from what he was targeting in his first year as Honda factory rider but believes that this season has proven to be an important learning curve.
The Italian, who stepped up to the Repsol Honda team from Scot Honda following the departure of Nicky Hayden, was narrowly beat to fifth place by Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards after being passed by Ben Spies at Valencia, bringing yet more disappointment to a what was tough season for the 23-year-old and Repsol Honda.
But Dovi is off the belief that a difficult 2009 will stand him in good stead for next year.
“This year’s results have not been what everybody expected, starting with me,” he told MotoGP.com. “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 secured one win last season, his only podium of the season and first win in premier class, which ended a run of three consecutive retirements and that was undoubted highlight of the season for former 125 champion.
“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.”
