Factory support lured Andrea Dovizioso to Ducati

Andrea Dovizioso’s desire to be the technical figurehead for a major factory was his prime motivation for gambling his future on a move to Ducati in 2013, according to former Monster Yamaha Tech 3 boss Herve Poncharal.

Dovizioso was offered a new deal to stay with Tech 3 squad in 2013 but was lured away from the proven YZR-M1 he scored six podiums on to attempt to turnaround Ducati’s flagging fortunes.

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 boss Herve Poncharal said it was clear that Dovizioso had no interest in remaining a satellite Yamaha rider where he would have had little input of the development direction of the YZR-M1.

The Frenchman told MCN: “What he really wanted, and more than the money I believe, was the factory support. Clearly when he joined Yamaha his intention was to try and be a factory rider with them. He didn’t necessarily want to be in the factory team but he wanted factory support and to have the same spec and to be treated on the same level as Jorge (Lorenzo) and now Valentino (Rossi).

That was not possible and clearly he was a little disappointed about that. Andrea would like to be really involved in technical matters. He wants to lead development and work closely with the engineers and he loves that. I am sure this is what motivated him more than anything.”

Dovizioso is still to get his first serious test on board the Desmosedici that compatriot Valentino Rossi struggled on so much in 2011 and 2012.
Rain badly disrupted his first test in Valencia last month and then a three-day test at Jerez recently was wrecked by a neck injury that kept him sidelined for almost the entire session.

He is due to be back on track with the rest of the MotoGP field when winter testing resumes at the Sepang track in Malaysia in early February.