Andrea Dovizioso says Marc Marquez’s “struggles to restrain himself” in races gives him hope he can still secure the 2017 MotoGP crown in Valencia this weekend.
Ducati rider Dovizioso is 21 points adrift of Marquez in the standings, which means he must win and hope that Marquez does not finish inside the top 11.
While Marquez can theoretically take a safe approach in the race in Valencia, Dovizioso reckons the Honda rider’s unpredictability may let him steal the crown.
“He is very good and knows how to handle these situations [title showdowns] well,” said Dovizioso of his rival.
“It is also true that when he sees an opportunity, he struggles to restrain himself, and then an error can always happen.
“But talking about his mistakes makes no sense.
“Our strategy is to try and win the race.”
Asked about his approach, Marquez underlined that riding just to finish inside the top 11 is not his style, and he will “give 100%” in the race.
“It’s not my way to ride [cautiously],” said Marquez. “This weekend I’ll push like always, I will try to do 100%.
“Then on Sunday after warm-up, we will see where we are, where is Dovi, where is the level of the other riders and then we will decide [how aggressive to be].
“I will not go out and say 10th place is OK, or 11th or ninth. I will go out to find the feeling with the bike, give 100% and try to enjoy the race.
“Keeping the same mentality as always [is important] because anything can happen.”
Dovizioso has only been able to stand on the podium at Valencia once in his MotoGP career, and has done no better than fourth as a Ducati rider.
While Dovizioso expects to be more competitive this year than previously, he admits that winning the race could be a tall order.
“Maybe us winning is less likely than Marquez retiring,” the Italian admitted.
“Valencia has features that are not easy for our bike, but last year we were not so far away. This year we will be more competitive.
“After the season we had, I don’t feel defeated, absolutely not.
“We have shown that we can be competitive in places we weren’t in the past.”