Andrea Dovizioso talks about Pedrosa, Melandri and others

Andrea Dovizioso is not exactly the stereotyped Italian rider that lets it all hang out or vents his frustrations, except for couple occasions last year when he publicly cried with happiness after coming 4th in the Qatar season opener after battling with Valentino Rossi or when he was dissing James Toseland for riding too aggressively or too defensively; he wisely and usually keeps a low profile in the MotoGP circus of primadonnas.

However in the March issue of Riders Italian Magazine, Dovi let out a little steam and out came a somewhat revealing and provocative Dovizioso.
Here’s a couple of the Q’s and A’s: HRC finally.
A reward for your loyalty.
I don’t like this theory.
Seven years with Honda have helped and I think I’ve earned the factory bike with my results.
To become a HRC rider, loyalty isn’t enough.
With a season like De Angelis had, I don’t think they would have given me the bike.

Aren’t you afraid of having psychological problems like Melandri had last year with the factory Ducati?I’m aware that this will be a very important year for me.

I enjoy the pressure.
Under pressure I give my best.
Melandri has kind of disappointed me because of the way he acted.
He gave up and didn’t even try to adapt.
According to me a professional rider with the talent that Marco has shouldn’t have gave up.
Between you and Pedrosa there’s no wall.
And that’s how it should be.
Obviously there’s no lost love between us, but there’s no hate like maybe there’s in Yamaha where they put up a wall last year.
In Yamaha there was the different tire situation between the two teams.
But it doesn’t exist now and the wall is still there.
Therefore …You’ve said that with Valentino around, everyone expects that other riders be like him.
Results aren’t enough now, you’ve also have to be flamboyant.
Look at Stoner, in these past two years he’s been really impressive and yet he’s been booed in a couple of races.
Hats off to Valentino, but everyone can’t be as outgoing as he is.
You can’t be not liked by the public just because you’re shy.
The important thing is to be correct and Stoner is.
You’ve said better not do anything, than act like Lorenzo does.
What did you mean?Lorenzo is really, really strange.
He’s got this braggart attitude.
This doesn’t mean he is one, but it’s the way he comes across.
You can see it’s fake, not natural.
Regarding Lorenzo, his last season was strange.
He started really strong and the got caught in some crashes, several bad crashes.
This confirms my idea about him.
Everything he does is instinctive.
If everything goes for the better you’ll go fast, but if something goes wrong and you don’t know how to limit yourself, you’ll sink.
If you don’t think about what you’re doing and act only on instincts, sooner or later you’re going to get hurt because this is MotoGP, it’s how the bikes are made and how the riders are.
Lorenzo is the only rider that I don’t understand.
In certain races he’s very strong and in other he looks like he’s losing it.
And the bad thing is that he doesn’t have an explanation for it.
And Simoncelli?I’ve known him since I was seven years old, we’ve always been in the same championships.
He earned the title in 250 in a decent championship.
He’s a talent, he’s always has been, but he’s never really been lucky.
Now he’s matured.
I don’t think that this is only intelligence on his part.
I think he was helped.
By whom?I think I’ll stop here.
Helped.
Period.
No wait, I don’t want to create any controversy, He was helped by Valentino.
Simoncelli has always been fast, but Valentino is his friend and decided to help him and showed him what mistakes he was making.
It was a positive help that showed him the way.
I’d like to congratulate him.
Hayden has gone to Ducati after passing three years with Honda and where he had to put up with decisions made by the Pedrosa-Puig duo (Alberto, Pedrosa’s manager) but he always kept his mouth shut, acted properly and never complained, are you going to do the same?I think so.
Because if you talk and create problems, you only complicate things.
Puig has a certain influence on the people in Honda and tries to pull them to his side and that’s okay, but I don’t think it’’s going to last very long, He can do this till his rider wins, but when he doesn’t win …And Pedrosa in MotoGP hasn’t won …I admire Pedrosa, he’s one of the strongest riders, even if he does have problems which come out when he’s fighting for positions, so he comes across as someone who isn’t a fighter.
He does have other virtues, like when he is fit, he can take a 10 second advantage.
It means that if everything is okay, he’s got this embarassing superiority.
I know how superior his racing is because I’ve raced against him in 125cc and 250cc.
He’s always been a year ahead and always had another treatment from teams, but even back then he was really fast.
People think that now that I’m in Honda, I’m going to dethrone him, but it’s not like that.
I’m going to learn a lot from him.
How is life in the garage?People say that we hate each other but it’s not true, obviously we don’t love each other, but we’ve know each other for seven years.
Seven years and we’ve met in the Clinica Mobile and we have no problem talking.
The thing is that it’s a difficult situation for him, he knows that he has to win and that I can bother him, so I know we can never be friends.
I’d like to have a relaxed relationship with him, even if I think he’s influenced by Puig.
Dani is good guy, but when he’s around other people, he changes.
An example of this is when at the party after the final round in Valencia he let himself be photographed with all my friends and my father, if Puig had been around this probably wouldn’t have happened.
Who wouldn’t you want behind you on the final turn?James Toseland.
He throws himself in even if there isn’t any room, he’d prefer making you fall.