Andrea Dovizioso says the improvements made with the Ducati since last year's MotoGP Argentine Grand Prix are “huge”, which allowed him to aim for the podium.
Dovizioso and Ducati had just one rostrum to their credit at Termas de Rio Hondo before Sunday's race, with the 2.99-mile circuit typically working against the Desmosedici.
However, Dovizioso qualified third and battled Valentino Rossi for second throughout the race, missing runner-up spot in the final lap after a late pass from the Yamaha rider.
Admitting his sixth in last year's Argentina race came about because of “crazy things”, Dovizioso says the “huge” improvements made to the bike since then made the podium a realistic “target”.
“Last year I was, minimum, one second slower than what I did today,” Dovizioso said post-race.
“I think our improvement is huge, and that's why the target was the podium, and we did it.
“So we have to be really happy about that. It's not enough, because we fight a lot with great riders.
“But I think our speed was constantly [good enough for] second. Last year I finished sixth because a lot of riders did crazy things and crashed. So I think the improvement is huge.”
Dovizioso says he was “not too happy” with how his soft rear tyre worked during the race, which stopped him from pulling a gap to Rossi in the latter stages and allowed the Yamaha rider to “study” where Dovizioso was weaker.
“We are happy to take important points at a bad track [for Ducati],” he added.
“But I'm not too happy in the way the tyre worked during the race. I couldn't be as fast as I wanted in the last 10 laps to create the gap to Vale.
“So Vale was able to study very well my way to ride and created the overtaking [opportunity] in the last lap.
“I couldn't answer, but third is OK. I'm not too happy about the way the tyre worked, so we need to study.
“I think it will be very important to analyse and understand how we can improve."
