‘Strange emotions’ as Dovizioso win previews what Ducati could miss

Having dominated the news cycle for 24 hours following confirmation he will sever his strained ties with Ducati at the end of the 2020 MotoGP World Championship season, Andrea Dovizioso is the man of the moment again as he celebrates his first win of the year in the Austrian MotoGP.

A 15th career success – that now makes up 14 of Ducati’s 50 total in MotoGP – Dovizioso demonstrated all of the qualities that have made him a front runner looking unflustered, reliable and consistent as he methodically climbed into contention before pulling away at the end.

A poignant win in the wake of confirmation for his impeding Ducati split – prompted because he thinks manufacturer doesn’t value him enough – while Dovizioso was careful to navigate questions about his future, he was delighted to be back on form just days after a flat Brno performance.

“I’m so happy to come back after Brno and Jerez, the feeling was really bad with the bike. I couldn’t brake, I couldn’t ride, I could be strong in any area which was so frustrating for me. We tried to study in between these two races within my team and understood a lot of things and we were able to show this in first practice and immediately it worked better. It was more my approach to the brake rather than a big change to the bike.

“In the race you can see Rins, if he didn’t crash, it would have been difficult to beat him but I didn’t see him in the race because he crashed immediately. But about the future, still I’m not comfortable 100% - on the brakes I feel really good but in the middle of the corner, the first part of the exit I am still not that good. I hope we can be better in that area for the next round, it is a strange track to work on that area.”

“The new tyre has changed a lot of things for everybody and this is why the championship is very strange compared with the past, I am so happy about that. It was important to come back in an important and especially the victory.

Having said on Saturday he is leaving Ducati because he doesn't feel it values him enough, Dovizioso admitted to feeling ‘strange’ emotions given his fractious relationship with the team's management.

Dovizioso reveals the decision had been communicated before the weekend and though he doesn’t have a ‘plan B’ right now, says both parties will work on getting the title win regardless of the future.

“It was very strange my emotion, first because normally the fans and your friends are with you, so this is different but also because I’m leaving. It’s a strange situation, a mix of emotions, but it’s always nice to win.

“Fortunately, we did it [the decision] in the past, so this is not a change. This is not the point. This is motorsport, sometimes you work in one way and sometimes you work in a different way.

“We are focused on the championship and today is to confirm. We really want to use this season as a maximum and we want to stay out of fighting because it doesn’t work for us for the goal we have and maybe there will be the right moment to speak about that.”

The win also brings him right back into the title hunt with another race at the Red Bull Ring coming next weekend. He is second overall, 11 points behind Fabio Quartararo.