Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1475687
Dovizioso Announces Retirement M otoGP veteran Andrea Dovizioso has decided to retire exactly one year after join- ing Yamaha's MotoGP program. Dovizioso and Yamaha main- tained a warm relationship since he completed a season with the Tech3 Yamaha satellite team in 2012. He rejoined Yamaha's satellite rider lineup at the 2021 San Marino GP when Franco Morbidelli moved up to the Fac- tory team. Dovizioso was originally planning to stay with the WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Racing Team for the entire 2022 Mo- toGP season, riding a factory- spec YZR-M1 and receiving full support from Yamaha, but re- cently decided to end his career at his Misano home race. Cal Crutchlow will fill in for the rest of the season. Lin Jarvis, Managing Direc- tor, Yamaha Motor Racing, said, "Andrea's great expertise, expe- rience, and methodical nature were of great interest to Yamaha and the RNF team and the proj- ect was fixed to include the full 2022 season. Unfortunately, Andrea has struggled to extract the maximum potential out of the M1 and thus the results have not been forthcoming, which has created understandable frustra- tion for Andrea. Finally, during the summer break, he confirmed to us his desire to retire before the end of the season. "After mutual discussions, it was deemed appropriate for Andrea to ride his final race in Misano at his home GP." Dovizioso said, "I thank Lin for his words, I totally agree with them. In 2012, the experience with the Iwata manufacturer in MotoGP had been very positive for me and since then I have always thought that, sooner or later, I would have liked to have an official contract with Yamaha. This possibility presented itself, actually in a somewhat daring way, during 2021. I decided to give it a try because I strongly believed in this project and in the possibility of doing well. "Unfortunately, in recent years MotoGP has changed profound- ly. The situation is very different since then: I have never felt comfortable with the bike, and I have not been able to make the most of its potential despite the precious and continuous help from the team and the whole of Yamaha. "The results were negative, but beyond that, I still consider it a very important life experi- ence. When there are so many difficulties, you need to have the ability to manage the situa- tion and your emotions well. We did not reach the desired objec- tives, but the consultations with the Yamaha technicians and with those of my team have always been positive and con- structive, both for them and for me. The relationship remained loyal and professionally inter- esting even in the most critical moments: it was not so obvious that that would happen." CN IN THE WIND P56 After 20 years in MotoGP, Andrea Dovizioso says he will call it a career after San Marino. PHOTO: GOLD & GOOSE