Dovizioso: No time to linger on points lost

Andrea Dovizioso's MotoGP title chances were dealt a heavy blow when, having already lost ground to Marc Marquez at the previous three races, he was brought down by Jorge Lorenzo in Barcelona.

The Ducati rider remains second in the world championship, but another victory for Marquez means Dovizioso has dropped 37 points behind heading into this weekend's Assen round.

The figures look worrying, but Dovizioso won't be panicking: "We need to stay calm and focused, taking it one race at a time. The Championship has still a long way to go."

The Qatar winner added: "There's no time to linger on the points lost at Barcelona, we need to tackle each race working as hard as we've done until now.

"I believe we are showing great competitiveness and, even though there are always areas to improve, we have proven our speed."

The post-race test in Barcelona saw Dovizioso try a new frame for his GP19, which he described as a "maybe" for use at Assen this weekend:

"The corner entry looks a bit better, but it's not completely clear, because it's not easy to understand the difference.

"At a test, you ride alone. You can make a comparison and understand your feeling, but it's not like trying a different tyre, when there is a clear difference.

"Normally in a race weekend you understand more because you are with other riders and when you change something like that [chassis] you need to understand exactly the characteristics. So we will see in Assen."

While Dovizioso, Lorenzo, Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi were all eliminated in the lap two accident in Barcelona, Danilo Petrucci followed up his Mugello victory by claiming a third podium in a row.

"I've always had good sensations at Assen, it's one of my favourite circuits despite the fact that on paper it's not the easiest for us," said Petrucci.

"We've been on a positive streak in the last few races, so first of all I want to be competitive and fight for the podium once again. Also, last year I had a quite difficult weekend at Assen, so I'll have an extra motivation going into this round.

"The weather will be a question mark, and even though my riding style and the characteristics of the Desmosedici GP could represent an advantage in wet conditions, I hope we'll have a dry race. We have another chance to score a good result."

Petrucci, fourth in the world championship, is expected to be confirmed as remaining alongside Dovizioso for 2020 within the next few weeks.