Dovizioso: It's not about Jorge

Mistakes by Andrea Dovizioso are a rare occurrence, so was the Italian's second fall in three MotoGP races due to the sudden pressure from Ducati team-mate Jorge Lorenzo?

Dovizioso insists the answer is no.

Dovizioso: It's not about Jorge

Mistakes by Andrea Dovizioso are a rare occurrence, so was the Italian's second fall in three MotoGP races due to the sudden pressure from Ducati team-mate Jorge Lorenzo?

Dovizioso insists the answer is no.

The bare mechanics of his lap 9 fall in Catalunya were a better exit from Turn 4, putting him 5-6km/h faster into the following corner, where he braked too much: "A mistake, because I was on the limit."

But contributing to the error was the lure of Honda's world championship leader Marc Marquez, just ahead of him in second place behind Lorenzo, while knowing he lacked one or two vital tenths.

"It's not about Jorge, it's about that I want to win the race because I have good speed and we have to gain the points to Marc. And Marc was there [just in front]. So I was pushing. I didn't want to give up," Dovizioso explained.

"My speed in the race wasn't good enough. I was losing one, almost two tenths a lap. But when the grip is very low, one or two tenths can be like one-second. So I was pushing too much.

"This is what happened and we go home with zero points."

Dovizioso also insisted that Lorenzo's second victory in succession can be positive for him personally, since he can now 'study' the Spaniard.

"I think there are a few things we can improve. Especially if you have a strong team-mate, like I have with Jorge now.

"When you have a fast team-mate, there are positive and negative things. It's difficult to manage, but the positive is you have an example to study. What I didn’t have until now."

Has Dovizioso's confidence been dented by the recent falls?

"No, because we are fast. I wasn't sixth without the speed when I fell. When you are fast, the confidence is there and the bike works well."

The 2017 title runner-up added: "I know very well what happened when I crashed in Le Mans and here. It didn't happen in a strange way, where I don't know why. This is positive.

"The point is, we have to be a bit better in some parts of the corners and we have to analyse a bit better the weekend, because every time the way we have to ride the tyres is different.

"The tyres are different to last year. Michelin say it's the same because the rubber is the same, but the casing is not the same. So the grip is a bit different. So we have to adapt to a new situation."

An interesting insight Dovizioso was willing to share involved Lorenzo's braking technique at Catalunya.

"Here, I believe after the race, those who braked with some slide, it didn't work here. If you look, Jorge was braking completely straight...

Read More