Wednesday, 14th May 2008

Italian still chasing podium as MotoGP returns to another fruitful venue.





Maybe it is a vision inspired by his recent appearance in a charity football match, but Andrea Dovizioso has revealed the belief that he can be a frontrunner in this weekend's French Grand Prix at Le Mans.

Although the Italian has been a surprise feature of the 2008 season, both he and JiR Team Scot will admit that he has not accumulated the number of points that his performances perhaps merited - something they hope to address as the MotoGP campaign gets stuck into its busiest period.

“During the first four races, we have had the opportunity to measure ourselves against the competition and we have shown that we have the rider and machinery to fight for the top positions," team director Gianluca Montiron commented, "The race at Le Mans will be particularly important because we will be racing at the home of our partners, Michelin, and, as our bikes are the same as the other Honda teams, we have to gain that little advantage by communicating well with our French technicians so that we can battle with the factory bikes.”

Team manager Cirano Mularoni points to Dovizioso's good record at the Bugatti circuit as a positive point to be taken to the French round, despite admitting that the Italian has no relevant experience there in the top flight.

“We go with much optimism because Le Mans is a track on which Andrea has taken many podiums," he said, "Technically this is a circuit where I think we can get good results with the MotoGP machine, even if we have no data. I think Andrea has a good opportunity to get the result he deserves in France.”

Dovizioso himself remains confident, even if recent races have proved frustrating in his attempts to reach the podium.

“The race in Le Mans could be a good opportunity for us," he echoed, "I like the track very much, and have always collected excellent results there in 125s and 250s.