Andrea Dovizioso can lead Ducati revival in 2013

Andrea Dovizioso has the experience and talent to revive Ducati’s flagging fortunes in the MotoGP world championship.

That’s the belief of the Italian’s former Monster Yamaha Tech 3 boss Herve Poncharal, who watched the former 125GP world champion become the most successful rider in the French team’s history in 2012.

Dovizioso scored six podiums last season but unable to secure the factory YZR-M1 he so desperately craved, he opted for the tough challenge of helping Ducati’s recovery from a disastrous recent spell.

The Bologna factory hasn’t won a race since 2010 and in a recent world exclusive interview with MCN, Valentino Rossi said he would have retired or moved to World Superbikes if his only option was to remain on a Desmosedici in 2013.

The bike continues to be severely hampered by an understeer issue that has been a long-term problem on the Desmosedici and a major revamp of the bike is not expected to be made available for Dovizioso, Nicky Hayden, Andrea Iannone and Ben Spies.

But Poncharal told MCN: “We know they are not going to find big chunks of time immediately but I believe that maybe Valentino was creating too much pressure and was not helping because you never work really well under too much pressure. I am not so sure Andrea has been really shocked by what he found there.

Maybe he was expecting to be closer to the front but I know he didn’t expect to be at the front. Andrea has taken a new challenge and he would have been thinking about it a lot. He knows it is a big challenge but he has got what he wanted. Andrea has clearly always wanted to lead development and now it is up to him to move Ducati in the right direction. I think he is really excited about that but basically the greatest rider failed and he wants to show that he can do it.

He knows it is not going to turnaround quickly but I am still convinced that he is the right guy they need for the position they are in to show them some good direction with less pressure than what they experienced before.”

For a 16-page guide to the new 2013 MotoGP campaign, see the April 3 issue of Motor Cycle News.