In less than a month, Andrea Dovizioso will hang up his helmet and end a 21-year career in the World Championship, but he still doesn’t know what his future will be and wants to take some time before committing to a new project.
“At the moment I have nothing important on the table, because I have not looked for anything,” said the Italian. “After spending 20 years in one place, I think it’s normal to need some time before doing something else.”
Dovizioso does not rule out maintaining ties with MotoGP, in a role to be defined: “Clearly I will keep the door open to everything, because I think I have a lot of experience in this environment and I have had requests in the past to do something here. At the moment I feel like I have a lot of experience in this environment. needing some time to do what I want to do at home and then we’ll see. “
In any case, the Italian seems to be the perfect candidate to become an official representative of the drivers. A few weeks ago, the precarious contracts signed by the younger drivers were at the center of the debate and some of the protagonists of the championship expressed the desire to seek a solution together.
Since 1961, Formula 1 drivers have their own association, the GPDA, which allows them to express their point of view on all issues, safety in the first place, and this model could be adapted to MotoGP.
“I think it would be nice, for the riders and for the championship, to have a figure who discusses and understands the problems of the riders,” explained Pol Espargaró at Mugello. “Not just complaining one by one, but being united. It would be nice.”
Andrea Dovizioso
The only problem was that none of the 24 riders on the grid seemed to want to embody that role. On the one hand, the younger generation fears a lack of legitimacy, on the other, Marc Marquez, the most successful rider on the current grid, has ruled out the idea.
“I think the leader should be someone who is no longer competing, who is no longer driving,” said the eight-time world champion, preferring to focus on his role as a driver: “If you want to work on this, it takes time. . I’m not the one who analyzes everything and see what can be done. It’s not my job. “
F1 has followed this path: Alexander Wurz, who has not driven in the championship since 2007, continues to preside over the GPDA today. Andrea Dovizioso, with his experience and background, has the potential to be the face of the GPDA and is willing to consider the idea after politely discarding it over the course of his career.
“I’ve already heard of it,” said the rider from Forlì, who still has two races to go for the RNF team. “I want to keep the door open. At the moment I don’t want to think too much about this environment and do something here tomorrow. We’ll see. It could be 50%.”
Dovizioso thinks about motocross and a personal project
Andrea Dovizioso believes that it is still too early to give up his sporting life. The 36-year-old has already experienced life away from the track in the last year, after leaving Ducati and before returning to the satellite Yamaha, and although this intermediate period saw him get on the Aprilia for testing, he was mainly dedicated to his other passion, motocross. Of course, this is where Dovizioso will turn his attention to him in the coming months.
“It’s clear it’s all about sport,” he said when asked about his plans. “I’m not that young anymore, but I still feel young enough to live off sports and continue to use my body and compete, for example in motocross, to enjoy these last few years in good shape.”
Dovizioso also has a great personal project that he wants to complete: “For a long time, more than ten years, I had the dream in the corner of my head to create something at home. It’s not finished yet, but I’m close to it. I’m very happy. It’s not finished yet, so I don’t want to talk about it, it’s a little too soon, but I’m very focused on a project and I think it will be very nice if I can work on it. And then there’s motocross racing! “.
With Léna Buffa
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