Longer wait for title won't affect Marquez, says Dovizioso

Sepang race winner Andrea Dovizioso doesn’t believe his victory in Malaysia will affect MotoGP title leader Marc Marquez’s mindset heading into the final round of the championship at Valencia.

Marquez finished fourth as the Repsol Honda rider’s advantage was reduced from 33 to 21 points, but with only one race of 2017 left in Spain in two weeks’ time, Dovizioso says Marquez holds his own destiny in his hands.

“I don’t think so, also today after a strange weekend, a difficult weekend, he did fourth. Like what he did all season, he did an incredible season and when he is in a bad situation he can get a good position and that’s why he is first in the championship,” said Dovizioso.

“To go in Valencia is his good track, the Honda works well there but also I think we can be competitive there but it is 21 points and something has to happen. The pressure on the last race in Spain is quite heavy but already he did it in the past.

“As I say before, Valencia we have a lot of points [difference] and I think Marc will be competitive from the beginning. The only thing we can do is try to approach Valencia in the same way as here: try to be fast and competitive and try to win the race. What Marc can do is in his hands.”

Dovizioso will approach the final round at Valencia in the same relaxed frame of mind and the Italian says he can be ‘happy’ with his championship challenge this season, whatever the final outcome.

“We know it’s difficult but we are relaxed; we were relaxed before this weekend and we will go to Valencia in a relaxed way and try to do the maximum,” he said.

“I don’t feel so happy about the victory of today because we don’t have a lot of cards to play in the next round, but what Marc did this season is something unbelievable like in the past.

“This is the reality and if we couldn’t make some better results it means we couldn’t be better, so if Marc wins the championship it means he was the best in this championship.”

Dovizioso admitted that he was left to rue a mistake at Phillip Island when he ran wide on the lap two, costing him the chance of a higher finish as he lost significant ground in the standings after dropping to 13th place. Scott Redding and Dani Pedrosa passed the factory Ducati rider on the final lap, but Dovizioso says there is little to be gained from dwelling on the past.

“I’m so angry about Phillip Island but what happened there, I was able to make better points if I didn’t make a mistake on the second lap. The Ducati wasn’t fast there and that is the reality,” he said.

“I entered the last corner in front of them [Redding and Pedrosa]. My traction was completely finished and I tried to do everything about my strategy but I didn’t have any grip. This is racing and everybody has to get the result for himself.

“It is easy to say in Assen I finished fifth but I was able to finish third, or in some other tracks I was able to be a bit better, but to say something like this cannot change the points and the championship is this,” he added.

“We weren’t fast [at Phillip Island] and you can’t change reality. I don’t feel so happy today about this victory like the other victories because it feels less strong, but I think we have to be happy about the championship of this year.”