Dovizioso Says Ducati Improvements Are ‘Not Enough’

In the pre-season tests, Yamaha's Maverick Vinales and Honda's Marc Marquez are a class apart from the rest of the field. In the recent, pre-season test held at Australia both the Ducati riders, Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo struggled a lot and was not able to challenge the pacesetters.

The Italian ended the final day of the testing in seventh, 0.699 seconds off Vinales' fastest lap. He also admitted that the changes made by the team on the GP17 race bike were not enough to be competitive on every race track.

"If you look at the test and make a comparison with last year, we are in a much better situation," said Dovizioso. "I was competitive in Malaysia, I was competitive here, and this is one of my worst tracks.

"We have improved a little bit from last year. We are quite fast. But in another side, still, we didn't develop enough the negative points. So I'm not happy if I look at the championship to be competitive at every track. We did a great job, but it's not enough."

When asked about Ducati's further plan to make the GP17 more race-ready for the season at Qatar test, Dovizioso said, "In Qatar, it's difficult to have new material. It's not possible to bring something in two weeks. We have to understand what we have to do to try to improve the turning."

One important gain that Dovizioso noticed is that the turning of the red machine has improved due to the loss of winglets. He said, "When you are in the race, the grip is less for everybody, and the turning makes a big effect.

"We can be very strong in a lot of areas, but if the turning is worse than the competitor, with the level we are now with the bikes and riders, it's difficult to say. That's why I say if we touch that point, everything can change."