Andrea Dovizioso (born 23 March 1986) is an Italian former professional motorcycle racer. He raced with WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team for the 2022 season but announced his intended-retirement after the Misano round in September. Dovizioso was the 125cc World Champion, but is best known for his time with the Ducati Team in the MotoGP class, finishing championship runner-up to Marc Márquez for three consecutive seasons in , and .
Dovizioso is one of the most successful modern MotoGP riders with 15 victories and 62 podiums. Dovizioso first came to prominence by winning the 125 cc World Championship in . He then finished third in the 250 cc World Championship in and was twice a runner-up to Jorge Lorenzo in and . He made his debut in MotoGP in 2008 and immediately finished fifth in the standings as the top satellite rider earning a move to the Factory Honda team in 2009. In his three seasons with Repsol Honda, he scored 15 podiums, including a maiden MotoGP win at Donington Park, and had a highest championship position of third in . He moved to Monster Yamaha Tech 3 in and finished in fourth position getting six podiums which earned him a move to Factory Ducati team in 2013. In , Dovizioso recorded his first win in seven years in Malaysia. In 2017, he found the extra pace needed to challenge for the title with six wins throughout the season, but Marc Marquez, who also had six wins, clinched the title in the final round in Valencia. The subsequent 2018 and 2019 seasons proved less successful, even though he won six combined races and finished runner-up yet again to Marquez. Dovizioso left Ducati after the 2020 season due to a breakdown in relations with the team.
Dovizioso finished within the top-five in ten of his first 13 MotoGP seasons and is considered one of the best MotoGP riders to not win the MotoGP World Championship. He is the only rider in history to win a MotoGP race in three different decades – 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. He is nicknamed 'the Professor' due to his calculated riding approach.
Career
Early career Born in Forlimpopoli, son of Antonio Dovizioso, a Sicilian motorcycle racer,Lorenzo Longhi, Andrea Dovizioso «ha già vinto». Parola del padre, Avvenire, 9 novembre 2017 Dovizioso won the 125cc Italian Aprilia Challenge in 2000. In 2001, Dovizioso won the 125cc European Championship and also competed in his first World Championship race at Mugello, in which he retired. During that year he worked with Guido Mancini, a former rider and mechanic who, in the past, had worked with Valentino Rossi and Loris Capirossi. A documentary film about Mancini's career, released in 2016 by director Jeffrey Zani, tells the story of that racing season.
125cc World Championship In 2002, Dovizioso competed in the 125cc World Championship with Team Scot Honda, finishing 16th in the final standings. His best results were two ninth places in Le Mans and Donington. He continued with the team in 2003, finishing fifth in the final standings and achieving four podium finishes. The 2004 season saw him pick up five victories and six other podium finishes on his way to winning the championship with 293 points.
250cc World Championship
In 2005, Dovizioso moved to the 250cc class, continuing with Team Scot Honda. The season included five podium finishes and third place in the overall standings. He also won the Rookie of the Year award. In 2006, he remained with the team, who were now renamed as Humangest Racing. He won two races in Barcelona and Estoril and finished on the podium 11 times. He fought for the championship until the final race of the season, but had to settle for second place behind Jorge Lorenzo. The 2007 season saw him win two races in Istanbul and Donington and challenge once again for the championship, but he finished in second place once again.
MotoGP World Championship Scot Racing Team (2008)
On 15 September 2007, Dovizioso announced that he would be making the move up to the MotoGP class with his existing team in 2008. On his premier class debut, Dovizioso achieved a highly credible fourth place, at the season opener in Qatar, passing Valentino Rossi on the final lap. Throughout the season, he was one of the most consistent Honda riders, placing fourth and fifth several times, and achieving a third place podium finish at the Malaysian MotoGP at Sepang. Dovizioso finished fifth in the final standings.
Repsol Honda Team (2009–2011)
For the season, Dovizioso became an official Repsol Honda rider replacing Nicky Hayden and partnering Spain's Dani Pedrosa. In July 2009, Dovizioso won his first race in MotoGP at the British Grand Prix in wet conditions at Donington Park. Despite otherwise consistent points finishes, Dovizioso ended up with fewer points than in his début season in the class, finishing sixth in the final standings.
Dovizioso had a strong start to his second season with the Repsol Honda team, picking up a podium in the season-opening race in Qatar. Three more podiums followed early in the year before his results tailed off mid-season. Despite this, Dovizioso consistently collected points finishes and claimed his first pole position in MotoGP at the Japanese Grand Prix at Twin Ring Motegi. He went on to finish second in the race after challenging for the race win, equalling his result from the British Grand Prix. Dovizioso again finished second in the following race in Malaysia. Dovizioso retired in Australia, and concluded the season with third in Portugal and fifth in Valencia to finish fifth in the final championship standings.
Dovizioso remained with Repsol Honda for a third consecutive season in , riding in a three-bike team alongside Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa. Dovizioso started the season well, with a fourth place in Qatar after a race-long battle with Marco Simoncelli. At Jerez, Dovizioso experienced severe tyre wear and had to make a tyre change on his way to 12th place in the damp conditions. He took fourth place in Portugal, with a late-race pass on Valentino Rossi, before Le Mans saw Dovizioso's best performance of the season to that point. Having circulated in sixth for a portion of the race, he was helped by the collision between Pedrosa and Simoncelli, which saw Pedrosa crash out and Simoncelli given a ride-through penalty. He then passed Jorge Lorenzo and Rossi en route to a second-place finish. Fourth place followed in Catalunya, before another second place in Great Britain, having started fifth and led the first few laps before being overtaken by teammate Stoner. Dovizioso extended his podium run to four races after third in the Netherlands and second at his home race at Mugello.
Dovizioso finished second for the fourth time in 2011, in the Czech Republic; holding off pressure from Simoncelli. Two fifth places followed, before Dovizioso's only retirement of the season in Aragon, after crashing out. Dovizioso finished fifth in Japan, despite a ride-through penalty for jumping the start. Dovizioso finished third in Australia and Valencia, while the Malaysian race was cancelled after the death of Simoncelli in the first attempt to run the race.
Dovizioso ended the season third behind Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner, but decided to move to the Tech3 Yamaha team for the season, alongside Cal Crutchlow on a one-year deal. He moved to the team after rejecting the offer of a satellite Honda bike, after Repsol Honda reverted to two bikes – for Stoner and Pedrosa – for the 2012 season.
Monster Yamaha Tech3 (2012) Dovizioso achieved top-five placings in each of his first three starts for Tech3, with fifth places in Qatar and at Jerez, as well as a fourth place at the Portuguese Grand Prix. A seventh place followed at Le Mans, before his first podium of the season – a third place – at the Catalan Grand Prix. After missing out on points at the British Grand Prix due to a crash, Dovizioso finished third or fourth in each of the next six races – with four podiums – to maintain fourth place in the championship ahead of teammate Crutchlow.
Dovizioso won the Supermoto-Race on SIC Supermoto Day together with Mauno Hermunen, a race in honour of the memory of his compatriot Marco Simoncelli, who died in a race crash in 2011.
Ducati Team (2013–2020)
Following Valentino Rossi's move back to the factory Yamaha team, Dovizioso was signed by Ducati to replace Rossi in their factory team. Dovizioso had a difficult season on an under-performing Ducati Desmosedici, with a best place of fourth in wet conditions at the French Grand Prix. He ended the season eighth, behind Stefan Bradl and just ahead of teammate Nicky Hayden.
Dovizioso was joined at Ducati by his former Tech3 teammate Cal Crutchlow, reuniting the riders that raced with Tech3 in . The season started in a positive way for Dovizioso, as he obtained three top-five results in the first four races, including a third place in the Grand Prix of the Americas in Texas and claimed his first pole position with Ducati in Japan, his first pole position since . He ended the season fifth in the riders' championship.
Dovizioso remained at Ducati for a third successive season, where he was joined by fellow Italian rider, Andrea Iannone, who moved from Pramac Racing. He took the first pole position of the season in Qatar, out-qualifying the rest of the field by 0.2 seconds. In the race, he started well and battled with the factory Yamahas of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. He finished in second place behind Rossi, taking his first podium since the Dutch TT in June 2014. Teammate Iannone finished just behind in third place, giving the factory team their first double podium finish since the 2010 Aragon Grand Prix. In the following two races, he finished in second position. However, Dovizioso's form took a huge dip as he struggled with mechanical and crashes. Having scored 4 podiums from the first 5 races, he only added 1 more to his total for the rest of the season. He finished seventh in the championship.
Dovizioso started the season strongly in Qatar again, finishing second, but was taken out by his teammate in the Argentine Grand Prix when he was second, he ultimately limped over to finish 13th. He was taken out by Pedrosa in Austin while 3rd and had a water pump failure in Jerez to leave him well down the standings. Around this time it was announced that Jorge Lorenzo would be joining Ducati for 2017. A few weeks later, Ducati announced that Dovizioso was to stay at Ducati to partner Lorenzo, while Iannone signed a contract with the Suzuki team. In the inaugural Austrian Grand Prix, where Ducati were favourites to win, he finished second to his teammate Iannone, which left disappointed. However he finished the season strongly and took only his second MotoGP win in the Malaysian Grand Prix ahead of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, his first win in seven years. He finished the season fifth in the championship.