Ducati MotoGP rider Andrea Dovizioso says his rival Marc Marquez’s crash at Austin shows the Spaniard “doesn’t have everything under control”.
Marquez made a near-perfect start to the 2019 season by taking second in Qatar and dominating in Argentina, and was leading at Austin, where had never previously been beaten.
But Marquez crashed out of a comfortable lead at Turn 12 and failed to finish, giving up the championship lead to Dovizioso in the process.
Dovizioso reckons that the reigning champion’s mistake shows that Marquez, who had a “special” start to the season, still has weaknesses.
“I think the crash of Marc, it shows he doesn’t have everything under control,” said Dovizioso, who finished fourth and now has a three-point lead over Valentino Rossi.
“Most of the time yes, but not every time.
“This is positive for us because in the first two races he did something crazy. He was so fast.
“This is really positive for the championship.”
Dovizioso added that Marquez’s mistake is the “confirmation that we can fight for the championship”, and he does not think the two of them will be the only contenders this year.
“The negative thing is, this championship is different,” he added.
“I think Suzuki and [Alex] Rins will fight for the championship, Valentino for sure and Marc for sure.
“These three riders plus me, I think we have really big chance to fight for the championship.
“Also some other riders but in this moment it shows this.
“It is not like in the last few years I just fight with Marc at the end of the championship.”
Dovizioso started from a lowly 13th position at Austin but had a strong start, rising to sixth on the first lap, and in the end he only missed the podium by 0.966 seconds.
“My start was so good, in my mind it was clear, I did everything that I wanted,” the Italian recalled.
“I put myself in a perfect position, I overtook two riders on the first lap so I couldn’t have made a better start.
“I was a lot of seconds [behind] after three or four laps because I lost the feeling, I almost crashed in Turn 10. In the fast corners I was not fast enough.
“I was missing some speed in that moment, but after a really bad moment because I lost a lot of seconds, I was calm and I try with [Franco] Morbidelli to understand where I have to be smooth [by following the Yamaha rider’s line].
“Still I was too slow in the fast corners but in some other place I was really fast, I saw that with Morbidelli.
“I overtook him and I started to make a good rhythm, at that moment I was very similar to the fastest rider and this is the positive part of the race.
“I lost too many seconds in four laps, that is bad, but at the end the speed was good.
“Unfortunately I couldn’t catch him [Jack Miller, who took third] half a lap before but we have to be happy.”