An “angry” Andrea Dovizioso says his Malaysian Grand Prix victory is not as satisfying as it should be because last week’s poor Australian GP has left him a title outsider.
Dovizioso claimed his sixth win of the season at Sepang, with points leader Marc Marquez only fourth, to take the championship fight to the final round at Valencia.
The Ducati rider still trails Marquez by 21 points after a terrible race in Australia seven days ago that started with a crash and ended with a 13th-place finish.
Even if Dovizioso wins the Spanish finale, Marquez can afford to finish 11th and still take the crown.
“I am so angry about Phillip Island,” said Dovizioso.
“For sure I was able to make better points if I didn’t make a mistake in the second lap.
“But the Ducati wasn’t there, nobody was fast, so it is the reality. You can’t change the reality.
“Yes, I don’t feel so happy today about this victory like other victories because we are strong, but if you look at the championship, [we are] a little bit far [behind].
“This is the reality. But I think we have to be so happy about the championship this year.”
On his way to 13th at Phillip Island, Dovizioso was overtaken by Dani Pedrosa and Ducati satellite riderScott Redding exiting the final corner, eking out Marquez’s advantage further.
Dovizioso said there is no point pondering about what happened in past races.
“It is racing, everybody has to get the result for himself,” Dovizioso added. “It is easy to say, ‘ah, in Assen I was fifth but I was able to finish third, with the speed I had’.
“In some tracks I was able to be a little bit better but to say something like that will not change the point.
“The championship is this, what everybody did [over the season].
“Like I said before I don’t feel so happy about the victory of today because we don’t have a lot of cards to play in the next round.
“What Marc did this season is something unbelievable, like in the past.
“If Marquez wins the championship it means he was the best in the championship.”