Andrea Dovizioso’s rebuilding aboard the Yamaha continues, with Misano set to be a key event. For the first time, the Italian will have some useful data, from the first event at the Italian track, meaning that he’ll start with a stronger base than he has at other events.

“Having already raced at Misano will definitely help me - explains Andrea - but I can’t really say what my potential is. It’s not one of my favourite tracks, especially now that I’m not particularly fast in acceleration, but we’ll see. First we’ll need to understand the weather, as it will be different racing at Misano in October. It might be cold and windy, which would impact on the tyre work”.

The progress Dovi made at Austin will also be of use, the Italian appearing to have turned a corner there.

“The step I made at Austin is very important, as I made progress in terms of the set-up but was also able push harder. But that’s a very different track to Misano, and many of those who were quick during the Misano tests were not as fast in the US. Things change a lot from track to track”.

Dovizioso: “If I could do less races and more tests…”

Andrea goes on to talk about the future, starting with the provisional 2022 calendar with its 21 rounds.

“I don’t want to think about it (he laughs). If we look at it from the organiser’s perspective, it’s better to do more races of course, while from the teams and riders’ perspective, it would be better to do more tests at the start of the year and less races. Personally, I would do three pre-season tests, and I think that 19 races are more than enough. In F1 they do even more than us, but we have no say in it of course, so we have to adapt”.

Andrea will take on the 21 races aboard the factory M1, as per the contract he signed with Razlan Razali’s renewed team already a few months ago.

“When I signed the agreement with Yamaha, I already knew the situation for 2022. Next year, I will have a new team-mate (Darryn Binder) and the factory bike, which I hope to test as soon as possible to have clearer ideas already this winter”.

MotoGP, Darryn Binder and Yamaha, together for (at least) a year