Highside

Andrea Dovizioso has been tipped as one of the first riders who might breach the gap to The Untouchables, yet surprisingly little is said about the Repsol Honda rider.  Part of this comes from the magnetism of his teammate, Dani Pedrosa, but there’s another element to the Italian’s lack of coverage.  Ever since he took the 125cc crown in dominant form back in 2004, Dovi has been overshadowed by his now peers, putting in consistently superb performance race after race, only to have the attention focused on the one or two riders who managed to beat him.

Chief amongst those riders is Jorge Lorenzo, who finished first to Dovi’s second in the 2006 and 2007 250cc championships.  Dovi’s consistent performance netted him a ride in MotoGP back in 2008, where he was again overshadowed by Lorenzo.  Dovizioso secured himself a ride on the Repsol Honda team following his rookie year in the premier class by taking a podium on a satellite bike, and impressed even more by winning the British Grand Prix in 2009.  Yet, a streak of consecutive DNFs plagued his 2009 season, and he stands to improve even more in 2010.

Dovizioso got his start at the age of four, racing minibikes back in Italy.  He first splashed onto the world stage in 2001, riding as a wildcard in the 125cc Mugello race.  In 2002, he rode for Team Scot Honda in the 125cc World Championship, and it was with Team Scot Honda that he would stay for seven years.  Now onboard with the Repsol Honda team, Dovizioso can only have one thing on his mind: recognition amongst his peers.  Donington Park helped a lot in that effort in 2009, but his performance in 2010 still remains to be seen.