Andrea Dovizioso of Repsol Honda doing well in his last season with Honda factory team
The Italian rider in Repsol Honda squad Andrea Dovizioso is going though the third season with the factory team. Since his MotoGP debut with JiR Team Scot, he has spent four seasons riding Honda RC212V.
HRC has declared that the 2012 MotoGP season might lose Dovizioso from the Repsol squad. The decision was taken after the Japanese manufacturer decided to reduce its racing budget.
During the Valencia test, Dovizioso worked hard to improve his pace. Initially, the RCV was under development phase. However, he secured sixth and ninth positions on both days of test at Valencia.
The season initiated with schedule of pre-season tests at Sepang and Qatar. The first preseason test was held at the Sepang International Circuit. During the first session he closed the day at eighth position but in next two days he sustained fourth position
challenging factory Yamaha rides.
On the second test round at Sepang, Dovizioso was able to maintain his pace and stand strongly in top five riders throughout the test session. During the second test the RCV was dominating the time charts.
Coming to final pre-season test session at the Losail circuit, Qatar the Italian was able to secure a place in the mid-riders pack.
The young Italian rider started his 2011 MotoGP season with good note. Dovizioso was seen strong in the practice sessions but scored a seventh position to start the Qatar GP. After a strong battle with fellow RCV riders he finished the race in fourth place
behind his Repsol teammates.
The second round was held in Jerez, Spain. Dovizioso was able to start the race from sixth place on the grid, however he faced problem with tyres as the race was rain affected. He finished 12th in the race, where five
riders crashed out of the event.
Coming to Portugal, Dovizioso was motivated to score high in the race as both of his teammates initiated a strong 2011 MotoGP flight. The Italian started the race from sixth position and crossed the finish line in fourth place.
The MotoGP action arrived in France at Le Mans for the fourth event on the calendar. Here the Italian delivered his potential and charged his RCV to qualify for the third place to start the race. However, he had to face hard time from the start line but
after Dani Pedrosa crashed and Marco Simoncelli penalised he came second on the podium.
The fifth event of the season was held at Catalunya. The Catalan GP was not much exciting for Dovizioso as he started the race from fifth position and finished at fourth place.
The next round was at Silverstone, where rain completely changed the racing scene. The Italian started from fifth position and completed a tough cold rainy race in second position behind Casey Stoner.
Dovizioso entered the Assen event with high motivation and completed his race to third place on the podium from fifth place on the starting grid. In the absence of teammate Dani Pedrosa, Dovizioso was a strong contender to beat.
Following into Mugello round Dovizioso again scored a second position on the podium and completed three podium finishes in a row. He made a good race for his home crowd.
At Sachsenring, he was not able to be as successive as in past three rounds. Dovizioso ended his race day at the fourth place from sixth to start the event.
At Laguna Seca, he was fifth across the finish line and started the race from sixth position on the starting grid. After the summer break, the Brno event took place. Dovizioso made a strong return from vacation and came second on the podium behind Stoner
from seventh place on the grid.
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