‘Still a lot of areas to work on’ heading into American MotoGP - Dovizioso

Andrea Dovizioso heads to this weekend’s MotoGP at the Circuit of the Americas focused on making further improvements following his premier class return at Misano.  

The three-time championship runner-up was last of the 21 finishes at Misano, however, a two-day test at the same venue last week provided Dovizioso with a second opportunity to get reacquainted with M1 machinery - last rode a Yamaha in 2012.

Dovizioso, who is competing on Franco Morbidelli’s older 2019 spec machine until the end of this season, will be on 2022 machinery like his fellow Italian and Fabio Quartararo next season. 

But before then, Dovizioso has ‘a lot of areas I need to work on’ during the final four rounds of this year. 

"There are still a lot of areas that I need to work on, but it was good to have the Misano Test to help increase my time on the bike," said Dovizioso.  

"I’m not sure what to expect from this weekend, as I will need to see what situation the track is in and I will need to find where the grip is. 

"It is a very demanding track and last time I was there the track had a lot of bumps, however I think they have made some changes since then. 

"The weather will of course have an impact, but it will be the same for everyone. It’s very difficult to predict what will happen but I hope to continue making progress this weekend."

This weekend’s American grand prix is just the second to be held outside of Europe since the Covid-19 pandemic, the other being Qatar.

In his seven appearances at COTA, Dovizioso has finished inside the top seven in every race except 2016 when he crashed out - his best result being second the year before.