Andrea Dovizioso set for ‘strange’ final MotoGP race at Misano
Dovizioso returned to MotoGP after nearly a full season away in 2021, however, the Italian’s return to Yamaha failed to match expectations.
Formerly of Ducati where he secured three consecutive runner-up finishes in the world championship (2017-19), Dovizioso has scored points on just five occasions so far this season, all of which have been outside of the top ten.
While Dovizioso hasn’t been alone in struggling aboard M1 Yamaha machinery in 2022 - only reigning world champion Fabio Quartararo has been a constant presence at the front of the field - the 36 year-old has often appeared lost when it comes to unlocking his and the bike’s potential together.
Struggles getting the soft rear tyre to work in qualifying, slow starts and pure performance have been lingering issues throughout the season for Dovizioso, who claims this weekend will be ‘unusual and strange’.
"San Marino is the last Grand Prix. It will be very unusual and strange after all my career," said Dovizioso. "Yet, I’m very happy to finish in Misano with all my friends and fans.
"I hope it will be a great weekend. It’s going to be very important to be competitive, trying to score some points and I think we’ll have a good four days there and a great party."
Binder looking to build on ‘positives’ from Austrian MotoGP
Despite crashing out of the Austrian MotoGP, positives were aplenty for Darryn Binder after a lightning start saw him move up from 21st to 12th in just a couple of laps.
Strong race pace then saw the South African continue to fight for a points finish before losing the front-end at turn nine.
With Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez confirmed at RNF Aprilia for next season, Binder’s future appears to be away from MotoGP in 2023, with a move down to Moto2 the expected outcome.
Speaking ahead of the weekend, Binder added: "I’m really looking forward to Misano this weekend, especially after the positives we had in Austria, so I’m looking to just keep building on what we’ve been doing there and just keep making steps forward.
"On top of that, we’ll have the test on Tuesday and Wednesday after the GP, that gives us some time to keep making steps forward and keep on improving. I’m trying to get a nice and good result in Misano."
