Dovizioso returned to MotoGP at Petronas SRT last weekend at the San Marino Grand Prix in Misano, replacing Franco Morbidelli.
The three-time runner-up qualified last and finished a distant 19th place in his first MotoGP race since last November – which happened to be his first on anything other than a Ducati since 2012.
The Italian was generally happy with the way his race went, noting that he was able to do much stronger laps as the race progressed, but admits that this is “strange”.
The bike Dovizioso rides is now two years old and everyone who has ridden it this season has fought for form with it.
When asked by Motorsport.com if he could understand why this bike was a struggle for everyone this season, he said it was impossible to know at the moment as he had no knowledge of the factory M1.
“I mean, I can’t know and I don’t know how much it is different from the factory bike,” he replied.
“Besides, only Fabio does something crazy, so that’s too far for me at the moment to understand and analyze it.
“But the bike is special and it has a lot of good things. But you have to drive it in a special way, so it takes time to adapt and you have to understand everything.
“Before this weekend I still had the question mark about the new rear end [tyre] I still have the case from last year because the way you have to brake is a bit strange and the way the bike improved a lot in the latter part of the race is very strange.
“That’s why it’s very important to analyze and understand whether it was more me, the bike, what changed on the bike during the race.
“The bike is new to me, so I have a lot of feedback, I don’t know exactly why a lot of things happened.
“But during the race I often had a good feeling and I felt the good things about the bike and couldn’t use its potential.
“Well, that was good, that was important. After 10 months without a race, driving a constant race and being faster in the end, I’m happy.”
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
When asked why the Yamaha is “special”, Dovizioso says it “demands” a riding style that most motorcycles on the grid do not have.
“It’s easy, you can see Fabio riding,” he added. “You have to brake really deeply and take a lot of speed with you in the middle of the corners.
“This is the only way to exploit the potential of the bike, because the bike demands it.
“So this is special because normally you motorcycles in the MotoGP class [don’t] must drive like this. Maybe Suzuki, but everyone else no. “
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