After Dani Pedroca decided to not race at Phillip Island las weekend, Andrea Doviziso was the only one rider of HRC that race at Australian Grand Prix. Start on 9th position on the 3rd row, Dovizioso strikes to the 5th position after 1st lap. Dovizioso was a rider with good start. But not for long, the #4 RC212V had some problem with the steering.
Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V): DNF
"It's really a pity that I had to retire today because we had worked hard with team and, after two difficult days of practice, today we had the pace to fight for third position and a podium finish. I made a good start and I was able to recover some positions. On the first lap I did a 1m31.7s without pushing too hard and I was fifth across the line. In the first two laps though I felt the steering was stiff and on lap three this caused me to lose a lot of positions. I could control the bike but, although I completed another lap, it was too risky to keep riding and I had to come into the pits. There was a problem at the steering damper mounting - it had moved into an incorrect position, so now we will investigate the causes. I'm really disappointed because after two great races in Japan and Malaysia, it was important to make a good race here to fight for third position in the championship. Still, now we will look to get the best results possible in Estoril and Valencia. "