VOL. 54 ISSUE 8 FEBRUARY 28, 2017 P29
Andrea Dovizioso knows he's got a fight on his hands if he's
to challenge for that elusive MotoGP Championship win.
MICHAEL DUNLOP SWITCHES TO SUZUKI
C
urrent Isle of Man Superbike and Senior TT Cham-
pion Michael Dunlop will campaign the new 2017
Suzuki GSX-R1000R in the North West 200, Isle of
Man TT and Ulster Grand Prix races this season.
It won't be Dunlop's first foray onto Suzuki machin-
ery, as the Ulsterman raced the previous generation
machine with some success in 2012. This comes after
a strong run of success at the TT on the BMW S 1000
RR, a bike that has now proven the machine to beat
on the roads.
The Suzuki will be run out of the Hawk Racing
squad for the superbike TT, with his own Michael Dun-
lop Racing squad campaigning a superstock machine.
"I'm back with the dream team for another wee
spin," Dunlop told MCN's Stephen Davison. "It's good for me because the team has
full factory support again. Yoshimura's involvement is a key factor, a really big thing for
me. Their support and getting the right stuff from the factory is crucial."
Dunlop will also return to the super twins class in 2017, riding a McAdoo Racing
Kawasaki. CN
Dunlop's moving
to Suzuki after
three years on
BMW for the 2017
roads season.
DUCATI IMPROVEMENTS NOT ENOUGH
A
ndrea Dovizioso has told motorsport.com the
2017 Ducati Desmosedici he will be campaign-
ing in the 2017 MotoGP World Championship is
not enough of an improvement to consistently
challenge for race victories.
The 2016 Malaysian MotoGP race winner
ended the Phillip Island test in sixth overall, 0.699
seconds behind fastest rider Maverick Vinales and
one place ahead of new teammate Jorge Lorenzo.
Dovizioso says that while the Ducati will be fast
at certain tracks, it will be a struggle to match
the consistency of the Hondas and Yamahas this
season.
"If you look at the test and make a comparison
with last year, we are in a much better situation,"
said Dovizioso. "I was competitive in Malaysia, I
was competitive here [Phillip Island], and this is
one of my worst tracks. We have improved a little
bit from last year. We are quite fast. But in another
side, still we didn't improve enough the negative
points.
"So I'm not happy if I look at the championship
to be competitive at every track. We did a great
job, but it's not enough."
Michael Scott
