MotoGP: Tardozzi says ‘Dovi is listening to Stoner’

Ducati team boss Davide Tardozzi says he believes that large reason for the reinvention of Andrea Dovizioso so far in 2017 is that the Italian racer has taken on the lessons of Ducati test rider and former world champion Casey Stoner.

An important if occasional member of the Ducati MotoGP project since his return to the fold at the start of 2016, Stoner has played the role of trackside spotter and rider coach as well as tester for the Italian firm and their full-time racers both factory and satellite – and Tardozzi told MCN that he believes that that advice is playing a key role in Dovi’s newfound form.

“Dovi is so clever, he is using very well the words of Casey Stoner. That is to use the best of your bike and don’t worry about the problems, just manage the things that do not work so well. Every bike has its good and bad points. He is winning using the best things of the Ducati – the top speed and acceleration and the braking performance which perfectly suit his riding style.”

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“Dovi and Ducati are leading the championship and nobody believed this could happen. But Dovi is a new rider. He has always been fast, even back when winning the 125 championship, and he is a very intelligent guy.

“At the end of last season after speaking with some people and Ducati he understood he needed to change his attitude to motivate himself and find a way to become a really top rider. Now he has done it. He is clever, experienced and I have never seen him so motivated. What I am thinking is that he is real contender for the championship.”

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