Andrea Dovizioso is set to be inducted into the MotoGP Hall of Fame at Mugello later this year after two decades in the paddock.

While bowing out from his illustrious career as a satellite Yamaha rider, Dovizioso will remain synonymous with Ducati after a dominant run in red from 2013-2020 which secured 40 of his 62 premier class podiums and saw him runner up in the overall title race on three separate occasions.

The 125cc World Champion - claimed in 2004 aboard Honda machinery as his climb through the junior classes continued - secured 103 Grand Prix podiums in total across his career, 24 on the top step including 15 MotoGP race wins with Austria his final bid for victory in 2020.

Dovizioso will be joined by three-time 50cc champion Hans-Georg Anscheidt as a MotoGP Legend in 2023, the Italian at Mugello in mid-June with the German rider celebrated at the Sachsenring one week later.

“When they told me, I was really surprised,” Dovizioso admitted on the announcement. “Reading the list of Legends it’s a nice feeling to know my name is now going to be added. I had a long career but didn’t expect to be named a Legend – and certainly not so soon – but it’s really an honour.

“I’m looking forward to coming back to the paddock to visit, and to be inducted at the Italian Grand Prix makes it really special. I’m surprised and very happy, happy to become a MotoGP Legend. So thank you very much!”

“It is a great pleasure for me to become a MotoGP Legend,” 88-year-old Anscheidt added. “I did not expect it, as the 50cc class came years after the other classes of the World Championship had started and is long gone. I am very happy, and I will do all I can to come to the Sachsenring together with my son.

“The 50cc class was very special for me as I was racing bigger offroad bikes before and had to learn to handle these tiny, wobbly beasts with their narrow power band and narrow two-inch tyres that had no margin for error.

“When the 50cc Moto Cup started in 1959, they had an average of 100 km/h. In 1960 it was already 110 km/h. In 1961 the topspeed of our Kreidler in the European Championship was around 140 km/h, when I last raced at Spa in 1968, my Suzuki went up to 205 km/h. It was an amazing development in these early years.

“I have not been in the paddock for a very long time, so I am very excited to see the World Championship again. I know from TV that the races are very close!”