Dovizioso: Collarbone 'won’t affect my weekend'

Andrea Dovizioso is confident that his recently fractured collarbone will not be a problem during this weekend's season-opening Spanish MotoGP.

The triple title runner-up broke the bone during a motocross accident at the end of last month, undergoing surgery that same night, where a plate and six screws were inserted to fix the injury. The Ducati star then started rehabilitation as soon as he arrived back home.

After testing his strength on a go-kart, Dovizioso made his MotoGP return during the two Official test sessions held at Jerez on Wednesday.

"My injury is very good and for the last two weeks we’ve worked in the perfect way," he said. "The day after the surgery I could already move easily and I don’t have any pain on the bike.

"The day after the surgery I could move my arm. If I had taken a week to move it, I would have a lot of muscle in the shoulder. But I have been working so hard for three months that these three weeks haven’t hurt me.

"I removed the stitches on Friday and I drove a go-kart to make sure everything was working as planned. Today I had it all confirmed and I know it won’t affect my weekend."

But Sunday's race will still be a grueling challenge, due to the roasting heat.

"The temperature was unbelievable and maybe the track temperature was even hotter than Malaysia," said Dovizioso, who was twelfth fastest in the final track session on Wednesday.

"It’s impossible for the tyres and bikes and when you are behind another rider the heat is unbelievable. In the race it will be very hard for everybody.

"But I’m really happy with today because I know that it was important to have a test and make some laps in a relaxed way. It was really interesting.

"My time with the used tyre wasn’t bad but it’s not as good as the fast guys, To test today helped us a lot because in Qatar we felt ready to fight for the podium, but every track is different and especially when there is 58C on the ground.

"This [new rear] tyre is very important for unlocking this season so we have to find a way as soon as possible."

Dovizioso, yet to sign for 2021, also said he has a simple strategy for the compressed season ahead: "Take the maximum points everywhere. I will push at 100% every time I am on track."

Team-mate Danilo Petrucci missed much of the afternoon session after a fast accident, caused by an oil spill, left him with a sore neck.