Andrea Dovizioso
Place of birth: Forlimpolpoli
Date of birth: 23/Mar/1986
Weight: 63Kg.
Height: 168cm.
A successful rookie season in 2008 was enough to convince Repsol Honda of the talents of Andrea Dovizioso, and the Italian joined the factory team for the 2009 campaign. He continues with them in 2010 alongside Dani Pedrosa.
Andrea Dovizioso
After six full seasons in the smaller classes, the diligent and consistent rider got his big break in the World Championship onboard a satellite Honda with JiR Team Scot, comprising members of Dovizioso’s former 250cc team and Gianluca Montiron’s 2007 Konica Minolta Honda outfit. His debut appearance saw him beat Valentino Rossi to fourth in Qatar, and the Italian continued to turn heads en route to fifth in the championship –the highest placing non-factory rider.
Dovizioso began riding at the age of just four under the watchful eye of his father Antonio and immediately began to demonstrate a passion and talent for both mini-moto and mini-motocross – winning two mini-moto national championships at an early age.
In the very first event of the 2000 Aprilia Challenge at Misano a 14 year-old Dovizioso ran away with the race and went on to hold the lead throughout the series, taking a well-deserved championship win. The following year he went on to build on that success by winning the 125cc European and Italian Championships, and earned himself a place on the 125cc World Championship grid for 2002.
That action packed year in 2001 also saw Dovizioso make his Grand Prix debut as a wildcard at Mugello, but having qualified in 23rd place he did not finish the race. A difficult first experience was soon put behind him in his first full season, with tour top ten finishes and a creditable 42 points gained in the colours of Team Scot Honda - under the guidance of longtime collaborator Cirano Mularoni.
Andrea Dovizioso
A handful of podiums that included a near-miss of a first GP win in South Africa, 13 top ten finishes and 157 points earned in 2003 made the unassuming Italian teenager a serious challenger to the big boys, and it was not long before he delivered on that promise.
In 2004 Dovizioso rode his new RS125R Team Scot Honda to the World title in supreme style with eight pole positions, five wins, five second places and only one result outside the top four – a DNF at Estoril due to a puncture when comfortably leading the race. At 18 years of age he was the 125cc World Champion, having secured the crown by a 91 point margin.
Moving into the quarter litre class as a World Champion in 2005 there were more podiums to celebrate, as Dovizioso’s first 250cc campaign concluded with him sat third in the general classification.
‘Close but no cigar’ is a fitting description for the two subsequent seasons for the Honda rider, with a certain Jorge Lorenzo dominating the 250cc category in 2006 & 2007 onboard a highly competitive Aprilia package, whilst Dovizioso twice finished runner-up behind the Spaniard.
In his rookie MotoGP season he had to wait until the penultimate race of the year to take an elusive first podium, eventually finishing in an impressive fifth place overall. The following year in 2009 a first premier class win came at Donington, and Dovizioso will be hoping for further podium finishes in 2010.
motogp.com
