ANDREA DOVIZIOSO

PERSONAL DETAILS
Name: Andrea Dovizioso
Date of birth: 23.03.86
Place of birth: Forlimpopoli, Italy
Nationality: Italian
Hobbies: SuperMotard, Motocross, Football, Snowboard
Favourite Riders: Kevin Schwanz, Valentino Rossi
Favourite Bike: "My Honda RC212V"
Music: various
Favourite car: R8 Audi, Mustang Shelby GT500
I clearly remember when my father gave me my first bike as a present. It was the Malaguti machine that you can see in the photo. I found it outside the front door when I was four year old after betting with him. If I could ride my bicycle without the stabilisers, he would buy me a bike. I won the bet but I never expected such a beautiful surprise.
I still remember that moment as one of the biggest emotions in my life! My passion for the two wheels started then and when I was young I went and watched my Dad racing motocross every Sunday. I normally kept the timing for him and when he wasn't riding, I was racing bicycles or mini-bikes challenging other children of my age. At six years old, I had my first mini-bike and one year later I started racing both on circuits and dirt tracks. You can see on the photo below a mini-bikes race at Forlimpopoli, Italy - of course the little rider with the number 34 in the front of the GRC machine is me! I have to say that it is also thanks to Antonio Gambarri, the owner of GRC, if I am a rider now. He is an extraordinary person and he helped me a lot when I was 11 and became an official rider. I want to thank him for all that he has done for me. I have ridden mini-cross bikes and mini-bikes until I was 14th years old. I also played football but I chose the track. In 2000, I raced the Challenge Aprilia, my first championship on a 125cc machine. This was a major success for me as I got to ride a real bike. In 2001, I raced in the Italian Championship (and finished 4th) and I won the European Championship on a GP125. This success opened the door to the MotoGP World Championship, in which I have been racing since 2002 with a Honda bike for the team lead by Cirano Mularoni. 2004 has been a season full of incredible emotions. I clinched 5 victories and 11 podiums in total and at the end I conquered the 125cc World Title. The following year, I moved up category and over three years I achieved 4 victories, ending up second in the championship twice and third once. These are fantastic results but I am not fully satisfied because my goal was to conquer the 250cc world title before moving to the MotoGP. However, in 2007 I have been very fast considering the lap times done on every single circuit and I am really pleased with that!
In 2008 I moved up category in MotoGP and this is a dream that has come true. It has been a season of great happiness but also very tough; I was very keen to show all my potential but the lack of experience and a not very competitive package of my team have stopped me a bit. However, we were able to achieve important results thanks to a great work of my team, like in Qatar at my debut with the MotoGP when I ended up fourth after a thrilling challenge with Valentino Rossi. The overtake to Valentino at the final lap has been one of the most beautiful and important moment of the season, because beating the rider who is considered a MotoGP legend gave me braveness and credit. I also have good memories of both Barcelona and Malaysia races. In Montmelò, where I won my first GP in 250cc, I was able to fight for the entire race with Rossi and Stoner for the podium finishing again fourth, whilst at Sepang circuit I was able to conquer the third place, reaching one of my goals for the season. I dedicated my first podium ever in MotoGP to Team Scot, the team that bring me to the 125cc World Championship in 2002, that let me conquer the World Title in 2004 and then move to 250cc and MotoGP classes. They are for me like a family and I will never forget them even now that I am official rider of the Repsol Honda Team: a dream that come true!

Career
125cc
In 2001 Dovizioso won the 125cc European Championship and also competed in his first World Championship race at Mugello, in which he retired. In 2002 he competed in the 125cc World Championship with Team Scot Honda, finishing 16th in the final standings. His best results were two 9th places in Le Mans and Donington. He continued with the team in 2003, finishing 5th in the final standings and achieving four podium finishes. The 2004 season saw him pick up five victories and six other podium finishes on his way to winning the championship with 293 points.
250cc
In 2005 Dovizioso moved to the 250cc class, continuing with Team Scot Honda. The season included five podium finishes and 3rd place in the overall standings. He also won the Rookie of the Year award. In 2006 he stayed with the team, who were now renamed as Humangest Racing. He won two races in Barcelona and Estoril and finished on the podium 11 times. He fought for the championship until the final race of the season, but had to settle for 2nd place behind Jorge Lorenzo. The 2007 season has seen him win two races in Istanbul and Donington and challenge once again for the championship, but he finished in 2nd place once again.
MotoGP
On 15 September 2007, Dovizioso announced that he would be making the move up to the MotoGP class with his existing team in 2008.[1] On his premier class debut, Dovizioso achieved a highly credible fourth place, at the season opener in Qatar, passing Valentino Rossi on the last lap. Since then, he has been one of the best and most consistent Honda riders, placing 4th and 5th several times, and achieving a 3rd place podium finish at the Malaysian MotoGP at Sepang.
For the 2009 season, "Dovi" became an official Repsol Honda rider replacing Nicky Hayden. In July 2009, Dovizioso won his first race in MotoGP at the British MotoGP at Donington Park.