Andrea Dovizioso has spoken of his pride ahead of the 200th Grand Prix of his career this weekend at Aragon. The Italian has been a central figure on the Grand Prix scene since debuting in the 125cc class at Mugello in 2001 with the last of his 63 podiums coming here twelve months ago.
Dovizioso admits he isn’t sure what to expect from his Ducati this weekend although he is hopeful of a stronger performance than in recent races.
“I don’t know if Aragón will suit us better than Misano. For me this year it’s always new and at every track the Ducati works in a different way. I don’t know what we can expect but normally Aragón is quite a good race for Ducati. I really didn’t know that I will reach the milestone of 200 GPs at Aragón! It’s really nice to do a lot of races in the world championship, and it’s something really important for the rider. When I was young, for me it was impossible to think about being a part of the world championship, so I’m really happy to have reached this milestone but it also means that I’m becoming quite old!”
Teammate Nicky Hayden, whose 2012 race ended in terrifying fashion with a crash in the opening laps, is cautious about his prospects given the changes in the track surface since the first race at Aragon three years ago.
“Aragón is definitely quite a bit different from Misano, the last track we raced at, as it goes left and has some elevation changes. It’s a fun track that has some nice corners, although it has gotten pretty bumpy since the first year we went there and had great results with the Ducati, which hasn’t helped us. It’s a track I enjoy, but we know that it’s not going to be an easy race for us. Still, I’m looking forward to going there. We’ll try to start the weekend strong and see if we can do something better than we have at the last few races.”
