Andrea Dovizioso says he has “no chance to fight” for a maiden MotoGP world title after struggling for speed yet again during the Alcaniz Grand Prix at Aragon.
The Ducati pilot could only manage 13th after running into tyre troubles late on, while a costly mistake running wide at Turn 8 did little to help his cause as he haemorrhaged positions.
The Italian looked to be on the rise during the mid-stages of the encounter as he closed on the Yamaha’s of title rivals Fabio Quartararo and Maverick Vinales, though his charge faded after admitting the way he rode meant tyre consumption “was too high”.
He then found himself passed by Aleix Espargaro’s Aprilia for ninth, before a mistake at Turn 8 saw him drop to his eventual finishing position of 13th-having now dropped 28 points adrift of points leader Joan Mir.
Dovizioso revealed post-race that he was riding “really on the limit” to maintain a position in the top ten, while ruing the fact he “couldn’t do anything” after his soft compound tyre finally gave up the ghost.
“I was struggling all race but I put myself in the right position, I was really on the limit but I saw (Fabio) Quartararo and Maverick (Vinales) struggling so I wanted to overtake them, but the way I rode meant the consumption was too high for the soft tyre and I couldn’t keep that speed,” said Dovizioso.
“I was there and kept trying, Aleix Espargaro overtook me and pushed me off at Turn 1 so I didn’t have any margin to recover the lost time, then I made a mistake at Turn 8 and I lost more positions.
“Then my tyre was destroyed and I didn’t have the energy to ride in a perfect way and I couldn’t do anything.
“The final position is really bad, and the feeling wasn’t that good so it is just a confirmation of our problems.”
The three-time premier class vice champion conceded it is “difficult to be optimistic for Valencia”, and that there is “no point even speaking about the championship with the speed we have.”
“With the feeling we have, and the fact that we are always struggling with the same things it’s difficult to be optimistic for Valencia,” added Dovizioso.
“I don’t think it will be a special track for us, but we’ll have to wait and see.
“I don’t think there’s any point even speaking about the championship at this moment, with the speed we have I have no chance to fight.”
Dovizioso has failed to grace the podium since his Austrian GP success over two months ago, while his only other rostrum result came after taking third in the season opening Spanish GP at Jerez.
He has managed to doggedly remain entrenched in the title fight through sheer consistency, having scored in every race bar the Catalan GP-in which he was taken out by Avintia’s Johann Zarco after the Frenchman was baulked by the second factory Ducati of Danilo Petrucci and tucked the front just ahead of the unfortunate Dovizioso.
