Dovizioso not quick enough for must-win race
ByAutoSport
Published 10/11/2017 at 17:09 GMT
Andrea Dovizioso fears his speed in practice is "not enough" ahead of Sunday's Valencia race, which he must win to snatch the MotoGP title.
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
Ducati's Dovizioso has to take victory with Honda rider Marc Marquez 12th or lower to win the MotoGP championship for the first time.
He ended Friday third overall, behind Ducati team-mate Jorge Lorenzo and Honda's Dani Pedrosa, as Marquez crashed late in FP2.
"I am happy about the final result, the position of today, but I know what we did today is good but not enough," said Dovizioso.
"For sure Dani and Marc have a better pace than everybody else, with used tyres.
"This is what we expected so I am not surprised about that. This is the reality at the moment.
"I am not smooth enough so we have to focus on that.
"It will be very important to make 30 laps in a constant way."
Asked where needs to find improvements, Dovizioso said: "The middle of the corner [I am] not so fast.
"Especially the line, the position I am on the exit I am not happy, I can't pick up the bike and exit in a smooth way.
"I can't do what I want and that is very important but it is not easy to fix."
Dovizioso had highlighted Marquez's tendency to get into situations where he lacks discipline as something to give him hope ahead of Sunday's race.
However, he does not believe Marquez's FP2 crash will affect the outcome of the weekend.
"Marc crashed a lot of times in his career especially this year," said Dovizioso. "I don't think this is something so important about this weekend.
"For sure it is not the best [for him] but I don't know, when he crashes there is always a reason.
"Sometimes it is important, sometimes not. You know what you did so you know very well if it is a problem or not.
"The pace he showed during today is quite fast."
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