Dovizioso buzzing from ‘incredible DTM experience’

Andrea Dovizioso says his first four-wheel racing debut was an ‘incredible experience’ after the MotoGP title contender proved competitive on his DTM debut in Misano last weekend.

Between the Italian MotoGP and this weekend’s Catalunya MotoGP, Dovizioso made his closed cockpit debut with a ‘wild card’ outing in the DTM touring car series for Ducati’s parent company, Audi.

Despite the vast disparity in four-wheel racing experience to his counterparts, Dovizioso impressed by ascending the order in race one to finish 12th – just behind team-mate and Haas F1 test driver Pietro Fittipaldi – with a fastest lap only 1.2secs shy of the best.

Going on to finish 15th in race two after a spin scuppered his chances of points, Dovizioso was nonetheless pleased to prove his racing skills go beyond MotoGP.

“I enjoyed it a lot,” he said. “It was a real race with really strong drivers so it was difficult for me to stay close to them.

“The experience was nice because the car was nice and really powerful, a lot of downforce. I enjoyed it a lot. An incredible experience.”

Coming into the Catalunya MotoGP facing down a 12-point deficit to Marc Marquez in the fight for the 2019 MotoGP title, Dovizioso says his targets remain the same against such a consistent rival.

“Twelve points behind Marc at this point in the championship, but we have more points than last year. He’s been consistent but we want to come back to winning because to beat Marquez you have to win races.

“We are there, very close, but we want something more so we are working hard to improve a little bit.”