Andrea Dovizioso "lost his way" in recent MotoGP races - Crutchlow
Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso has "lost his way" in recent MotoGP races, according to his former team-mate Cal Crutchlow


Dovizioso qualified 13th for the German Grand Prix while his title rival Marc Marquez - ahead of the Ducati rider by 44 points in the title race - has taken pole position for Sunday's race.
The Ducati rider has not won a race since the Qatar season opener and has only finished ahead of Marquez in a race once, doing so in Austin after the Honda rider crashed out of the lead.
Dovizioso also had his level of aggression in battle questioned ahead of the German Grand Prix and the Ducati rider shout down the comments in the pre-event press conference.
Crutchlow, who was team-mates with Dovizioso at Ducati in 2014, says Dovizioso has lost his way and has not been able to make the most of the Ducati bike's strengths.
"I think Dovi lost his way and this is quite clear to see," said Crutchlow, who qualified sixth at the Sachsenring.
"I think that he is not riding as well as last year, I don't believe. But I don't know what is going on inside the garage, I don't know the bike he is riding.
"If you look at him two years ago, I think he was in a stronger moment than what he is now.
"I think Dovi is riding better when he doesn't think of the championship, when he goes for the race wins [instead].

"In general, in the last races he has not been so fast in many of the practices and I think he's more lost the way and he is not using the bike's strengths.
"Dovi is a great and fantastic rider and good friend of mine but, the tracks that he could have taken advantage of Marc I think he's lost that opportunity.
"Now he's had some bad races, some bad qualifyings, I think it is getting a little bit worse for him."
Crutchlow says MotoGP needs Dovizioso to improve so that the title race becomes closer.
"Hopefully he is able to get faster because we need the championship to be better than the points difference is at the moment," said Crutchlow.
"All credit to Marc, he is riding better this year than he ever rode."
Dovizioso expects a difficult race from 13th on the grid at the Sachsenring because he does not have the pace of the frontrunners and expects to struggle with tyre consumption.
"We will see which strategy we can do but we don't have a lot of cards to use this moment," Dovizioso said.
"The situation is difficult because we don't have any positive part of the race where we can be strong.
"In some moments we can be very close to the fastest, but anyway we lose [out] and in some moment we lose [out] more. At the end of the race, it [the tyre] will be a problem.
"If I lose a lot the rear tyre [durability] to recover a lot of positions, I will pay [for] that."

Nakagami: Every Sachsenring MotoGP corner felt like bones breaking
Niki Tuuli wins first-ever MotoE race at Sachsenring after red flag

Latest news
Ellis named as replacement for injured Auer in Bathurst 12 Hour
DTM race-winner Philip Ellis will make his Bathurst 12 Hour debut this week as a stand-in for the injured Lucas Auer.
Winning MSR Acura "super lucky" with Daytona 24 gearbox scare
The Meyer Shank Racing Acura team was "super lucky" to win the Daytona 24 Hours despite its malfunctioning gearbox for most of the race, according to team boss Michael Shank.
Bourdais “surprised” Cadillac was beaten on pace in Daytona 24 Hours
Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac driver Sebastien Bourdais said he was surprised that the victorious Acura ARX-06 outperformed his new V-LMDh in the Daytona 24 Hours IMSA SportsCar Championship season opener.
Daytona 24: MSR Acura opens GTP era with win, Proton snatches LMP2 by 0.016s
Meyer Shank Racing scored its second consecutive victory in the Daytona 24 Hours in the first race for the IMSA SportsCar Championship's new GTP regulations, leading an Acura 1-2 finish.
The other Suzuki signing that could transform Honda's MotoGP form
Following Suzuki's decision to quit MotoGP, both of its former riders have landed at Honda for 2023. But perhaps its biggest signing from the now-defunct team could instead be a highly-rated technical manager. Is Ken Kawauchi the right man at the right time to steer HRC back to glory?
How the MotoGP paddock has offered refuge to Suzuki's former team
Suzuki's unexpected departure left more than 40 professionals virtually jobless for the 2023 MotoGP season. But that human drama has been successfully corrected by the paddock itself, with most former Suzuki crew-members absorbed into other operations
How one MotoGP team went from title fights to losing it all in four years
The Petronas Sepang Racing Team came into MotoGP with a bang in 2019 as regular front-runners, with wonder rookie Fabio Quartararo mounting a title challenge in 2020. But it all went wrong for the Razlan Razali-helmed squad as the team changed hands and tumbled down the order - and RNF Racing plans to right this in 2023
Is MotoGP's comeback king ready to reclaim his throne?
Marc Marquez’s sixth premier MotoGP title seems a long time ago given the injury woes he has faced in the three years since. At the end of a fraught 2022, in which he had a fourth major operation on his right arm, the Spaniard speaks exclusively to Autosport
How MotoGP’s underachiever is working to reverse its fortunes in 2023
As European manufacturers emerged as the strongest force in 2022 in a changing of the guard for MotoGP, one powerhouse couldn’t quite match the feats of Ducati and Aprilia. Its motorsport chief tells Autosport why this is and what it is doing to become a consistent frontrunner in the class of kings
How MotoGP riders are preparing for the physical stress of sprint races
With the expansion of the calendar to 21 grands prix and the introduction of sprint races, the 2023 MotoGP season will take the riders to almost 1,300 kilometres of competition more than this year, a factor that forces adjustments in their physical preparations.
The Ducati rider who is much more than just the brother of a MotoGP legend
Surname pressure is something many have had to deal with in their motorsport careers. And while Luca Marini doesn’t have that, his familial relation and the team he rides for in MotoGP have cast a brighter spotlight on his progress. But, as he has shown in 2022 – and as he reveals to Autosport – Marini is so much more than just the brother of a legend
Ranking the top 10 riders of MotoGP 2022
The 2022 MotoGP season was another hotly contested championship, with Francesco Bagnaia emerging as the title winner after the campaign went to the wire. Autosport picks out the 10 best performers of the season
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.