Dovizioso stuns on World Rally Car debut

12th December 2011

By Anthony Peacock

MotoGP race winner Andrea Dovizioso made a stunning World Rally Car debut at the Bettega Memorial Rallysprint in Bologna, by pushing former World Rally hampion Petter Solberg all the way to the last heat in the finals.

Dovizioso, who moves from Honda to Tech 3 Yamaha this winter, saw off established world rally stars such as Kris Meeke and Jari-Matti Latvala to reach the final in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC. He and Solberg won one race each in the final showdown, meaning that the victory went down to a tie-break with one more run around the asphalt and gravel course – which Solberg won.

Latvala, who finished fourth, was full of praise for his 26-year-old team-mate on the Italian event – and has encouraged him to try his hand at rallying in the future.

"He has done a really good job and he was improving very quickly," said the Ford factory driver. "We spoke together about the areas where he can brake late and which gears to use: this kind of thing. It would be good if he did some events in the future, like Valentino Rossi did. For sure he has the basic talent."

However, Latvala also warned Dovizioso that he might find stage rallying a bit more challenging than a rallysprint.

"The hardest thing in rallying is always getting used to the pace notes," Latvala pointed out. "Dovizioso is a good guy as well but to be able to compete on the top level of WRC you need a lot of experience and practice with the notes."