Motorcycle racing is as much about brain as it is about brawn, always has been, always will be. But sometimes a rider comes along whose intelligent approach to the sport really stands out. Andrea Dovizioso is one such rider. He reminds one of 1980s legend Eddie Lawson, nicknamed ‘Steady Eddie’, who never tried to run before he could walk. Lawson did learn to run, of course. The Californian ended up winning four 500 World Championships, including the 1989 title for Honda. Like Lawson and like current team-mate Dani Pedrosa, Dovizioso is an analytical rider with a precise and economical riding technique, which is exactly what’s required with the current breed of 800cc MotoGP bikes which demand riders to stay smooth for higher corner speeds. Dovizioso joined the factory Repsol Honda team at the end of last season after completing his rookie MotoGP campaign with Scot Honda, so he is still building up to full speed. So far his career has followed the same step-by-step template used by most current MotoGP stars: from pocketbike (or minimoto) racing at an early age to sport production to 125 GP bikes to 250 GPs and finally to MotoGP. Dovizioso has met with success every step of the way, well, almost. Only once did the youngster try to run before he could walk, when he graduated from pocketbike to real motorcycles in 2000, on the eve of his 14th birthday. “My first full-size motorcycle was a 125 Grand Prix bike, and it was a very traumatic experience,” says Dovizioso. “I was asked to race the bike in 2000 by Fiorenzo Caponera’s team because I was the fastest kid in pocketbike. But a GP bike is too big a jump from pocketbike because it isn’t easy to ride; it’s so difficult to use the engine because the rpm range is so narrow. I tested this Aprilia GP bike three times at Maggiore during the winter before the 2000 season, and each time I went very slow. In the end the team said I wasn’t fast enough to race.” At that stage of his life Dovizioso had already decided that he wanted to be a Grand Prix racer, putting to one side his other passions, motocross and football. “Every weekend I play football, ride motocross and ride pocketbike, but Caponera told me I need to stop football and focus on roadracing. I’d already had a couple of try-outs with local football teams.” But the enthusiastic teenager wasn’t worried when he was told he wasn’t fast enough to race the 125 GP bike. “When you are young you don’t think like that, you don’t think it’s all over,” he says with a wry smile. “Within a week another team near my home gave me a bike to ride in the Aprilia Challenge, for 125 streetbikes. I won my first race on the bike and then I won the championship!” Dovizioso’s main rival that year was Michele Fabrizio, currently a factory Ducati World Superbike rider. His biggest rival in pocketbike had been Marco Simoncelli, currently 250 World Champion. Apart from those traumatic first outings on a 125 GP bike, Dovizioso has always excelled at extracting the maximum from his machine without exceeding the limit, a product of his thoughtful approach to racing. “This has always been my style, ever since I raced in pocketbike. It’s my character, that’s all. Of course, my father Antonio [a keen club motocross rider, even now at the age of 55] helped me think like this. When you start racing in pocketbike your father is everything. He is your mechanic, your driver, your teacher, everything. Thinking hard is important in every sport, of course, not just in bike racing. Whatever you are doing it’s important to understand everything and to think about everything so you can improve.” Dovizioso was not a great fan of school “the only subject I liked was gym, I love all sports” but he is definitely a thinker and has always thought hard about his racing. Not surprisingly, he finds MotoGP much more mentally demanding than any other racing class, and thus more challenging and rewarding. “My race weekends are very different now compared to what they used to be in 250s and 125s. From eight in the morning to eight or nine at night you are always working on something, especially the electronic controls systems. However much time you spend thinking, it’s never enough, because you can always do more. In 250s and 125s it’s not like this.” Dovizioso’s race preparations begin immediately after the previous race. “When I get home I watch the race on TV and study every practice session which can help me learn something new before the next race. At every race I give myself a target because it is always important to keep improving. At the moment I am working with a new team, so we are working very hard to improve my feeling with the bike and to improve the set-up. Of course, I don’t consider this to be real work, because it’s what I’ve always wanted to do with my life!” In between races Dovizioso keeps himself fit in the gym and on the motocross track. “When I am at home I ride motocross as often as I can. For me it’s the most fun. I love everything about it, from leaving home to go to the track to the actual process of riding. When I am riding my MotoGP bike you have to think very hard, you can’t just ride, with motocross you can just ride and have fun with the bike.” When he does motocross, Dovizioso rides a Honda CRF250 and Honda a CRF450, in fact he’s spent pretty much the last nine years of his life on Honda machinery. He won the 2001 125 European Championship and the 2004 125 World Championship on Honda RS125Rs, then twice finished second in the 250 World Championship aboard an RS250RW. During his time in 250s he turned down an offer from the Aprilia factory to ride its 250, which has dominated the series in recent years. “At the beginning it was coincidence that I rode Hondas, but then it was my plan because I believe in Honda. When I was riding 250s I had the possibility to go to Aprilia but I wanted to stay with Honda because I believed in them for MotoGP.” Last year Dovizioso served his MotoGP apprenticeship, learning the complexities of the new class step by step and scoring his first podium towards the end of the season. Now he’s with the Repsol Honda factory team his aim is nothing less than MotoGP race victories and then the title itself aboard his RC212V.