Dovizioso: Decision to stop here was right, support was crazy, emotional
Dovizioso, who admitted that ‘crazy’ support and tributes from other riders, his team and Yamaha left him in tears prior to Sunday’s Misano MotoGP, managed to put all that aside to claim his second back-to-back points finish of 2022.
Despite struggling in the early laps, a constant theme for the Italian this season, Dovizioso found pace as the race went one while crashes ahead of him also played a role in moving up the order.
Speaking about his emotions after the Grand Prix, Dovizioso said: "The weekend was really crazy. I really didn’t expect so many people would support me in a crazy way. I was crying last night [Saturday] with the video [tribute] and stuff like that.
"I’m really happy and it couldn’t have been any better. My decision to stop here was right and thank you to Yamaha and the team.
"The race was like always, I wasn’t able to be quick in the beginning and I wasn’t able to stop the bike so I lost the group in front of me. But from the middle of the race until the end I was able to go faster than my pace.
"I was able to play a bit with the riders behind me and I was able to keep the position which was the positive thing. For sure, a lot of riders crashed - 12th is a good position for me.
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"I wanted to make the top ten but I couldn't. In any case I’m happy about the weekend and the way it ended."
Dovizioso retires as a MotoGP great, receives tributes from fellow riders
A three-time MotoGP runner-up, Dovizioso was often the rider who looked most capable of getting the better of Marc Marquez during the Honda’s rider’s sustained period of success at the top of the sport.
And as demonstrated by several of their last lap battles in 2018 and 2019 especially, Dovizioso was a specialist at digging deep in order to get the victory.
LEGENDS @AndreaDovizioso @marcmarquez93 #SanMarinoGP pic.twitter.com/JmBeoEROZW
— MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) September 4, 2022
So while he might not have expected the tributes and support he received, there’s no doubt that Dovizioso will be remembered as a MotoGP great, despite never winning a premier class title.
Discussing what made him show such emotion prior to the race, Dovizioso added: "Last night the team did something with my friends and a video from other riders which was very emotional.”
"When you are not fighting for the championship it’s normal [to not be in the limelight] because you are not so important during the year.
"But when you decide to retire all the people look at you in a different way because they start to really focus on what you did and then what you are doing. But I didn’t expect that much."
Despite his level of success slowly dropping off during his final two seasons with Ducati and his last with Yamaha, Dovizioso remains the rider with the second highest number of wins since 2017 (13) - the first season he finished runner-up to Marquez.
Team Owner of RNF Racing, Razlan Razali, also paid tribute to Dovizioso, saying: "Well the curtain has drawn for Andrea's last dance, his retirement race in Misano with a good 12th position with four points.
"It was an emotional weekend leading up to the race, a fantastic celebration for everybody who knows Andrea, his former teammates, colleagues and other teams wishing him well for his retirement. So, it was a good race for Andrea and to get some points for the team."
Congratulations @AndreaDovizioso on your great sports career.
— JoanMir36 (@JoanMirOfficial) September 4, 2022
I wish you the best for your future pic.twitter.com/kna99Qnosf
