‘No change’ in Dovizioso, Ducati 2021 MotoGP talks despite podium

Andrea Dovizioso says ‘nothing has changed’ in the position between himself and Ducati over a 2021 MotoGP deal despite securing a hard fought and somewhat unexpected podium in the Spanish MotoGP.

A traditionally unfavourable circuit for Ducati machinery, Dovizioso’s run to third position in the Spanish MotoGP was the first he has ever achieved in Jerez and puts him on a positive footing heading into this weekend’s Andalucia MotoGP at the same venue.

Described as a ‘classic’ Dovi performance to maximise his result despite the Ducati GP20 seemingly being outpaced by Yamaha and Marc Marquez’s Honda, it comes as the Italian continues in his drawn out discussions with the manufacturer over a deal for 2021.

As it stands, no agreement has been reached between the two parties with an issue over money known to be the sticking factor to making a deal, despite there being few alternative options for either rider or team beyond each other. Despite this, Dovizioso has once more emphasised he is in no rush to sign on the dotted line.

“Nothing has changed, now we are focused on racing because after that good result on Sunday we have to keep the position we did on Sunday. It will be hard because a lot of riders were really fast behind me, so we have to make a step. After that we can think about strategy and other stuff.”

Though pleased with the result, Dovizioso has been less upbeat when discussing the Ducati GP20 itself which he considers to be a step behind its rivals at the moment. Nonetheless, he still believes he is in the hunt for the 2020 MotoGP title and thinks back-to-back races are beneficial to the team despite still being in Jerez.

“It was really hard last weekend, especially in the race. I couldn’t drive in the way I wanted so it was very physical for me from beginning to end, so to finish on the podium was very important for the championship.

“I am really happy to be here again because after four days you can work on some details and that is the best way to work on the bike. We analysed a lot of things, have a lot of ideas, let’s see if that works because it is what we need, to make a step with our speed.

“I want to be there and will fight to be there, I just spoke after the race. We’ve only done one and my feeling wasn’t that good and they [Yamaha] showed a better potential but it is just one race. We want to be there, in the lats three seasons we have been there but a lot of things can happen.

“My feeling is not that good, we need to understand how much margin we have about the speed and that can change in a positive or negative way.”