MotoGP, Dovizioso: "Marc is the favourite in Australia but I'll fight"

Just eleven points separate Dovizioso from the front, but the battle now becomes even more complicated because the Italian now has to fight enemy Marquez in Australia, on what is 'home turf' for the Spaniard. The Borgo Panigale rider knows that the bar is raised once more, but he has no intention of throwing in the towel.

He won't be intimidated: “For sure Phillip Island is one of Marquez’s favourite tracks, and the situation will probably be a bit more difficult for us, but last year we did a good race and so we must try and work in the best possible way throughout the weekend."

Points are now all-important in terms of the title fight: “There are now just three rounds left until the end and anything can happen: we must try and always be fast at every circuit and in every condition. On paper we are not favourites for the win in Australia but we’ll be fighting as hard as ever.”

On the other side of the garage, Jorge Lorenzo is keen to do well. The Twin Ring could have seen the Majorcan score his first win, but things didn't go to plan: “The race at Motegi didn’t go the way we had expected, but now we’re fully focused on Phillip Island. This year, in the races where we had high expectations we weren’t able to do a good race, and yet sometimes, where you least expect it, we have managed to make big improvements."

He is therefore feeling confident ahead of the upcoming event: “In Australia we should make a step forward from the winter tests, where we simply didn’t have enough pace. We are coming back here better prepared than eight months ago and so we must continue to give our all if we want to improve”.​​​​​​​