Dovizioso: MotoGP title still open but very difficult

Andrea Dovizioso says he won’t give up on the 2019 MotoGP world title following victory at the Austrian round but explains why he feels it remains an extremely tough task for Ducati.

Dovizioso produced a dramatic final-corner overtake against championship leader Marc Marquez at the Red Bull Ring to claim his first victory since the opening round in Qatar and trim the Repsol Honda rider’s lead in the standings to 58 points.

Despite an emotional outpouring at his win in Austria on the cooldown lap, Dovizioso wants to remain realistic on his title aspirations given both the points deficit plus his concerns over being competitive enough to fight for victory at every round for the remainder of 2019.

“It is open because there are a lot of races,” Dovizioso said. “This race on one side doesn’t change the future because Marc showed his potential in a lot of races and was so competitive, more than last year, so I expect him to be strong at every track.

“I think it is very, very difficult but we are working to develop the bike and also this race, we won the race, but we worked so hard to try to improve the bike and we are constantly working on that. You never know what you can find and some material will arrive in the future.

“I want to keep it alive because you have to be like this but to fight against Marc in this moment if you think in a realistic way it is very difficult. But it doesn’t change our approach.”

Dovizioso has frequently called upon Ducati to provide developments to improve its turning and corner speed performance, something the Italian feels the GP19 is suffering with compared to its rivals.

But the 33-year-old hopes his victory in Austria can provide Ducati a timely boost ahead of the final eight rounds of the current MotoGP campaign.

“Our approach is that we have to improve as it is not enough to beat him [Marquez]. But this victory gives us a lot of energy for the future,” he said.

“To win is always important, but to win like this when we struggled a lot in some races, so to win like this when we didn’t have a better speed but we worked well for the race, I think it is very positive for me and for Ducati.”