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Dovizioso: Ducati still must improve to sustain title challenge

Austrian Grand Prix winner Andrea Dovizioso insists his Ducati team must still improve its competitiveness if it is to sustain its 2017 MotoGP title bid.

Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team

Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Podium: Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team
Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team, Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Podium: Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team
Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team, Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Race winner Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team
Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team, Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team, Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team
Podium:  Race winner Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team
Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team

The italian notched up this third win of the current campaign last weekend at the Red Bull Ring, defeating Honda's Marc Marquez in a mesmerising duel that wasn't settled until the final corner of the race.

It promoted Dovizioso to second in the standings, 16 points behind Marquez with seven races left to run.

But the 31-year-old remains unconvinced that the Ducati is a strong enough package to really challenge for top honours unless the GP17's key weaknesses, including its turning ability, can be addressed.

"Our bike is for sure very competitive, because we are there [in the title fight]," said Dovizioso. "But there are some points we have to improve if we want to try to fight for the championship.

"We lost too much in the two left corners, Marc was able to make half of the metres I did in the faster way. So the bike doesn't turn as I want, and that is very important to try to fight with them in every track.

"In some tracks maybe that is not so important and we have positive things, but the turning is so important.

"I believe our bike works most of the time well with the tyres, so that gives us the possibility to be there, but still we have some limits and we have to focus on that if we want to really fight for the championship."

Fairings change competitive picture

Last year's Austria race was dominated by Ducati, which with its aerodynamic winglets was clearly the bike to beat around the Red Bull Ring's point-and-squirt layout.

However, the subsequent ban on winglets and development of new fairings - which Dovizioso raced for the first time this season in Austria - has cost the Desmosedici on acceleration, traditionally its strongest aspect.

The Honda meanwhile has gone from suffering a major acceleration deficit to being the class of the field when it comes to exiting corners, believes the Italian rider.

"I think there is a different reality [compared to 2016], the rules changed last year so for sure changed the situation," said Dovizioso.

"For example today, where I lost compared to Marc it was the acceleration. Everybody's trying to change the bike, fairing, all the stuff, and you can change the characteristic of your bike.

"We are very fast in the straight, but at the end of the straight, but not the first part of the acceleration. But I think it's quite normal when you change the rules."

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