Dovizioso takes 'weird' points lead, says ‘riding style doesn’t work’

Andrea Dovizioso typified the bizarreness of the 2020 MotoGP World Championship by describing his newfound points’ lead as ‘weird’ because he is otherwise struggling to find performance on the Ducati GP20.

One of five riders in six races to have topped the podium in 2020 this season, Dovizioso came into the San Marino MotoGP weekend three points shy of the overall lead but came away from it with six points in hand over Fabio Quartararo after his rival failed to score.

However, Dovizioso’s achievement came despite an anonymous weekend in which he qualified ninth and finished down in seventh place, more than ten seconds shy of winner Franco Morbidelli.

Indeed, despite coming away as the new front runner overall, Dovizioso was otherwise critical of the current situation, saying he is struggling to find his rhythm on the GP20, adding that his riding style simply doesn’t work on the bike.

"It was a tough race. Since I was starting from the back, I struggled a lot to find the rhythm at the beginning. I still can't be as competitive as I would like with these tyres and the riding style I've always adopted in the past years is not working right now. 

“Fortunately, this Tuesday, we will have a day of testing here in Misano, which will be very important to try to solve this aspect. The championship this year is weird, and now we are leading the standings. 

“We have to see the positive side of the current situation and continue to work, putting all our effort to come back stronger in the next races. I congratulate Pecco on his great performance."