Andrea Dovizioso has been a faithful Honda rider for almost a decade and this season he’s having his best MotoGP results ever and is currently third in the standings and just 25 points behind Jorge Lorenzo and he’s losing his factory ride.
It may seem bloody unfair to this pretty unassumingbut headstrong Italian, but the present economic situation is forcing HRC to cut back on their factory bikes and Dovizioso and Marco Simoncelli are pitted against each other to see who will get that extra bike.
Simoncelli is content to stay with Gresini as long as he has factory support and Honda doesn’t make him dismember his present technical crew, while for Dovizioso it would be an unfortunate step backwards, so he’s had his manager in talks with Herve Poncharal’s Yamaha Tech3 team, with Rizla Suzuki, but it seems Dovizioso isn’t interested in riding the GSV-R as there’s still no official word of what Suzuki will be doing or using next year and also with Ducati.
Going to Borgo Panigale is always tempting for an Italian, but realistically a Desmosedici has become a career killer for any rider (except Stoner) who wants to win and be on the podium (which is the same reason that Jorge Lorenzo refused Ducati’s offer back in 2009).
Sill HRC is doing all they can to keep the two riders close to their bosom and have asked Lucio Cecchinello (LCR Honda) to take Dovi in and are promising that while the new RC213V won’t be a 100% factory, but it will be constantly updated during the season.
Cecchinello has stated that he is trying to organize the team for Dovizioso’s arrival but the move requires more funding than the team can currently count on, however if the plan should fall through the team manager has set his sights on John Hopkins, but he’ll need Honda’s approval.