Third place like a victory but Ducati “has to improve” states Andrea Dovizioso

Despite taking his first podium at Jerez, Andrea Dovizioso was critical of Ducati stating they must improve

Michelin have introduced a new tyre compound for 2020 which has benefitted some manufacturers like Honda and Yamaha but have hurt Ducati, Dovizioso took a podium at Jerez but feels he did not have the pace to fight with Yamaha and Marc Marquez on the Honda.

Qualifying behind the Pramac squad of Francesco Bagnaia and Jack Miller meant that Dovizioso got off to a rough start during the race. However, Andrea ran a nearly perfect race, maximising on Marc Marquez’s crash and Jack Miller’s physical issues to take the rostrum spot.

“This third place is like a victory for many reasons, especially because I didn’t have the speed. I couldn’t really fight with them (the leaders) because I was slower but I didn’t give up in the difficult moment and didn’t make a mistake and I was able to make a good move three laps from the end on Jack also because Morbidelli overtook me.

“That was the best we could do but we have to improve the speed because Marc was faster than everybody and these two were much faster than us.

“We have to improve, I think it is good to have another race because you have a lot of feedback from this race to understand the electronics and the tyres, but we have to make a step on speed.

The Italian also stated he feels “in the mix” in regard to title contention.

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