Dovizioso not starstruck by Rossi
Added on Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor
Dovizioso not starstruck by Rossi
Andrea Dovizioso claims that he hasn’t become star-struck whilst riding alongside Italian legend Valentino Rossi.
The 22-year-old is even backing himself to beat his fellow countryman as the season continues and predicts even more tussles with the seven-time world champion.
The JiR Honda rider has impressed in his rookie season in MotoGP and his performances have seen him move up to fifth position in the riders championship, making him the top-ranked satellite rider in the competition.
Despite being the highest-ranked rider yet to have a podium this season, the Italian has shown incredible consistency since his fourth-place finish in Qatar, finishing outside the top eight on just one occasion.
At the MotoGP press launch at the start of the year, Dovizioso looked visibly overawed some of the stars that he was being expected to compete with but it now seems that the youngster has more than found his feet at this level.
“Before this year it was a dream to fight with Valentino, but now I am in the same class and I want to beat him,” Dovizioso told Crash.net.
“It is very difficult because he has the best talent, but I beat him in my first race and finished very near to him at Barcelona.
“It is very very nice to fight with Valentino, but also with Stoner and Pedrosa,” he added.
