The sun was shining on Saturday for the final Free Practice sessions and Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, the sixth round of the MotoGP World Championship 2022, accompanied by passionate fans around the 4.4-kilometre Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto. Yet, the sun wasn’t shining so bright for the WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team rider Andrea Dovizioso who has been unlucky in setting a fast lap time in Qualifying.

Compared to Friday, Dovi improved his fastest time in this morning’s Free Practice three by 0.554 seconds, yet he was still struggling to find the right feeling. While FP4 served as a test session for various settings, Andrea was ready to get closer to the front in Qualifying one. Unfortunately, several incidents with yellow flags stopped his progress throughout the eight timed laps. He ended up in P13 and will have to catch up from row eight tomorrow when the red lights go out for the MotoGP race at 14:00 local time in the South of Spain.

 

Andrea Dovizioso #04
P 23

“I managed to improve this morning, but I still didn’t have the right feeling to push confidently. Somehow, I’m not able to be really fast on entry and in the middle of the corners, so I just don’t get some decent times in. In the afternoon, it felt even harder. I was riding with the used tyres from this morning, but in any case, my speed is not there, so to be honest, I’m not very confident, but I still hope we can work on some solutions in Warm Up tomorrow morning.”

After just a few days of rest, the MotoGP World Championship is back in action this weekend for the second back-to-back round of the season, this time in the sunny South of Spain. With decent temperatures, which have been increasing in the course of the day, the WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team already got some solid work done on Friday, but aims to move further ahead.

Although he collected some decent points last Sunday in Portugal, Dovi is still missing the perfect feeling aboard his Yamaha YZR-M1 and started this morning’s FP1 with less than one second from the top in P19.
In Free Practice two this afternoon, which was notably warm than the first session in the morning, he lowered his fastest lap by 0.797 seconds, but concluded the day just in the top 20 after missing out on the top by 1.214 seconds in the ultra-close premier class.

Dovi is now already looking forward to Saturday, where he can try further ideas in Free Practice three at 09:55 local time and Free Practice four at 13:30 ahead of the two Qualifying sessions that start at 14:10.

 

Andrea Dovizioso #04
P 20

“We tried a different setup, but I couldn’t improve my feeling. To be honest, I’m a bit frustrated. I need to do many different things and it feels like it’s a bit too much. It’s difficult for me to be closer, so the gap to the front is still the same like in the other rounds. I’m not happy about that, but we will work on details with the data to better understand and try to do something different. But it’s more about my way to ride, so I will be more focused on that.”

Just a few days after the Portuguese Grand Prix, the entire MotoGP World Championship paddock is already preparing for the second European race, which takes place this weekend at the Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto in the South of Spain, where both WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team riders have already tested their Yamaha YZR-M1 machines last year.

After scoring his best result of the season so far with 11th in Portimao, Andrea Dovizioso is hungry for more. Although the Italian feels that his gap to the top is still quite huge, he comes to Jerez de la Frontera, with high hopes, having ridden his Yamaha YZR-M1 there last November and with some ideas in mind to improve on his deficits.

The weekend will start this Friday with Free Practice one at 09:55 CET followed by FP2 at 14:10 CET.

 

 

Andrea Dovizioso #04

“Jerez is not the best track for me, but I expect to make a step there for me, because I think the bike works well there. Other than that, it’s good to go straight to Jerez after Portimao, because the speed was not there, but my feeling at the end of the race was a bit better. So it will be very important to make a step, because we need to be in the middle of the group and also start a bit further in front, because the position in the grid will always affect the race a lot.”

Following a wet Friday and Saturday, race day at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve has been dry and cloudy. Therefore, all MotoGP riders had to try to get a feeling on slicks at the rollercoaster circuit in the Algarve in Warm Up this morning, a challenge for the entire field.

Andrea Dovizioso started the day with the ninth fastest time in Warm Up this morning and went into the fifth race of the 2022 season from row six of the grid. He was back in P18 after lap one, but started to make up ground, fighting up to the top 15 on lap five. Yet, he lost a lot of time in the last sector of the sixth round and went backwards to 19th position.

Trying his utmost, he managed to move forward again, benefitting from some crashes in front. After 25 laps, the Italian eventually saw the chequered flag in 11th, his best result so far this year, collecting five important World Championship points and second-best Yamaha behind eventual race winner Fabio Quartararo.

 

 

Andrea Dovizioso #04
P 11

“At the end, we took some points. Relating to our speed, it was good, but overall, I’m not satisfied. On one hand, it’s interesting, because if you see my pace at the end of the race, it was quite good. The first half part of the race, when you have the grip, I’m not able to be faster and this is the point we need to work on. This is also the reason, why I’m not that fast in the practices and also why I lose a lot of time in the beginning of the race. When I was behind Maverick, he was starting to push and he was doing 1:40.5s. I couldn’t do lower than 1:40.7 and I did a mistake and went out of the track. At the end of the race, alone I was doing 1:40.2s. I don’t have the feeling and I don’t see how to use the bike at the beginning of the race. I think it’s good to have Jerez immediately and the test after the race, so we can work on that.”

Saturday in Portugal started nearly the way Friday has ended; with rain showers and cold temperatures. While the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve was still completely wet for Free Practice three this morning, the tarmac started to dry slightly during the FP4 session after lunch time. For Qualifying one the conditions have been mixed and therefore delivered a lot of tension and excitement.

With more standing water on track and also rain coming back during FP3 this morning, WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team’s Andrea Dovizioso was unable to improve on his fastest time from FP2 on Friday afternoon. He concluded the practice sessions in P17 overall.

For Qualifying, the sun came out at the Algarve, yet the track was still too wet for the Italian to switch to slicks, so he tried to get the best out of his rain tyres. Dovi pushed hard and was on top momentarily with less than three minutes to go, but couldn’t take profit from a second last lap as the yellow flags came out due to a crash of a contender. He ended up in P6 and will have to start the fifth round of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship season tomorrow from row six on the grid.

 

Andrea Dovizioso #04
P 16

“It has been another very difficult day from the morning. On the wet, I struggle a bit and in the afternoon the conditions have been very strange. At the end, I did a good lap time with the rain tyres in Q1, but the best tyre in that moment was the slick. I didn’t feel confident enough to put that on, it was about one lap. Some riders took the risk and it was the right decision. Unfortunately, I ended up in 16th, but my Qualifying one was pretty ok”.

Cold and wet weather conditions welcomed teams and riders in Europe this weekend.
Following a windy but sunny Thursday, the rain arrived around the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve on Friday with the track action to begin. Yet, the WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team tried to get the best out of two rainy sessions.

Dovi approached the weekend steadily. The experienced Italian landed on 22nd position in Free Practice one, but managed to improve throughout the second session of the weekend by 0.53 seconds, although there was even more water on the tarmac.
He did the third fastest time of the entire field in FP2 and with it improved his overall position to P14 in the combined standings.

The forecast for Saturday doesn’t promise too much improvement. Dovi will seek further refinements in Free Practice three tomorrow morning at 09:55 local time (10:55 CET) ahead of FP4 and the all-important Qualifying sessions from 14:10 local time (15:10 CET).

 

 

Andrea Dovizioso #04
P 14

“Today has been very difficult, because the grip is very low. But we tried to have some feedback from a different setup. It’s a bit tricky, as it doesn’t change a lot on our overall characteristics, when you experiment with the setup, but in any case, in the afternoon, I did a good lap time and I was a bit closer. The feeling is still not really good, the grip is not good in the wet and I’m struggling. To be honest, it’s difficult to get the feeling. I hope the conditions tomorrow will be different, so we can understand our speed on the dry.”

The Autodromo Internacional do Algarve close to one of Portugal’s famous holiday destinations Portimao is the host of the first European round in 2022.

Riders and teams are likewise excited to return to Europe following four very unique flyaway rounds at the beginning of the season and to commence the race weekend at the 4.6-kilometer rollercoaster circuit.

Andrea Dovizioso eyes to achieve more decent results.
The experienced Italian lands in Portugal with just three points to his name following some unfortunate races in Indonesia and Argentina.
Last time out in the United States, he scored one point, but is still working to improve his feeling with the Yamaha YZR-M1 and eagerly awaits the World Championship’s return to Europe.

The first of another back to back weekend with the Portuguese and the Spanish Grand Prix, start this Friday with Free Practice one at 09:55 local time (10:55 CET) followed by FP2 at 14:10 local time (15:10 CET).

 

 

Andrea Dovizioso #04

“Portimao is a really good track, but at the same time a strange track, different to others. Our only goal is to do a better race there than we did last time at the Circuit of the Americas. Anyway, we arrive there more confident overall and we’ll see what we can achieve in Portugal.”

It was a sunny but windy race day for the fourth round of the MotoGP World Championship at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas today.
Yet, the WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team pair of Andrea Dovizioso and Darryn Binder crossed the finish line after 20 demanding laps, facing hard conditions.

Dovi, who started the American round in P15, completed lap one in 16th position.
The Italian fought hard to keep his place, but struggled to find a decent rhythm aboard his Yamaha YZR-M1. On lap nine, he lost another place, but could improve his lap times towards the end of the race. Before the start of the final lap, he reclaimed P16 and was battling Franco Morbidelli for the final championship point in the race.
He finally crossed the line in P16, but eventually got promoted to 15th and with this managed to score a point.

With another lesson learned, the entire WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team is looking forward to return home for a week and kick off the European season in less than a fortnight in Portimao, Portugal.

 

Andrea Dovizioso #04

“I expected a bit more. I’m honestly very disappointed. My feeling is not improving while trying to reduce the gap and I can’t be happy about that. I tried to be consistent, but when you don’t ride in a relaxed way, you use more energy in the practices already, so I didn’t have a lot of energy left for the race itself. I was fighting with Marini, Oliveira and Morbidelli, but we haven’t been fast and that’s not a good feeling. At the end, we got one point, but the 29 seconds is the fact that we have to check. The gap to the top is big. I’m not happy, but I didn’t have the feeling to be any faster.”

Fresh mornings are marking the conditions during this Americas Grand Prix weekend. But with rising temperatures, the tension was also rising at the Circuit of the Americas on Saturday. Hot and windy weather greeted riders and teams for the all-important Qualifying sessions this afternoon.

Although he managed to improve his fastest lap from Friday by 0.336 seconds in FP3 this morning, Dovi concluded the combined Free Practice sessions in P16, which means he had to compete in Q1 again in the afternoon.

Although the temperatures have been high, Andrea did a decent lap to finish in fifth, which made him miss out on a potential Q2 spot by just 0.410 seconds.
He’ll start the Grand Prix of the Americas from row five tomorrow, his best starting position to date.

The big final rodeo ride overseas, before the paddock returns to Europe will be kicked off tomorrow at 13:00 local time (20:00 CET) with a demanding distance of 20 laps at the 5.5-kilometer circuit close to Austin, that is known as the live music capital of the world.

 

Andrea Dovizioso #04

“To be honest, I’m a bit disappointed, because yesterday I felt slightly better, but today I couldn’t manage to further improve and the gap to the front was bigger today than yesterday. I’m not too confident about that, but let’s see. Because the Austin race is probably the physical most demanding race of the season, so anything can happen. Tomorrow the conditions will be even worse, as it looks like the wind will be super strong and this will affect us. We just need to find out if it will be in a positive or negative way.”

The fourth round of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship started today in sunny, but windy and fresh conditions in the morning at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas. Thereby, the WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team duo delivered some improvements from Free Practice one to Free Practice two at the famous and partly resurfaced American track.

Andrea Dovizioso used the first session of the weekend to re-adapt to the COTA again, after he already rode the American GP aboard his Yamaha YZR-M1 less than half year ago. But changed conditions also required some adaptations. From FP1 to FP2, Dovi showed some great steps forward. He went 1.618 seconds quicker in the second session and eventually missed out on the top 10 by just 0.293 seconds in the ultra-tight premier class field.

Saturday’s action is set to kick off with FP3 tomorrow at 09.55 local time (16:55 CET), followed by FP4 for the MotoGP class at 13:30 local time (20:30 CET) and the Qualifying sessions, starting from 14:10 local time (21:10 CET).

 

 

Andrea Dovizioso #04

“Overall, I felt better today, I was closer, only three tenths behind Fabio and was pretty happy about that. On my last run, I somehow wasn’t able to use the potential of the soft rear and I didn’t make a really good lap time, so I didn’t end up inside the top 10, but the way I rode today, I felt I was close to the top 10. Let’s see how things work out tomorrow, I’m sure the grip will be higher, so everybody will go for the lap time. We also have to keep an eye on the wind as it seems to get stronger with each day. Anyway, I’m happy, because we changed the setup a bit after the race in Argentina from what we felt and learned in the race and with this, I was able to improve a bit on the braking, which helped me today.”