Petrucci not counting on 'Ducati tracks'

Assen and especially Sachsenring, where Honda's MotoGP champion Marc Marquez has now won for ten seasons in a row, were always expected to be problem circuits for Ducati.

But Danilo Petrucci is concerned that Marquez was only narrowly beaten at some of Ducati's best tracks, suggesting they will have a big fight on their hands just to contain the Spaniard's large title lead at the upcoming rounds, let alone try and eat into it.

"For sure the next two tracks, Brno and Spielberg, are a little bit better than the two tracks we have just had but this year Marc has made a bigger step compared to us," Petrucci warned.

"We fought hard with him in Qatar and Mugello, which have always been two Ducati tracks, and only won by thousandths of a second. And now the next two [Brno and Spielberg] are the same, two Ducati tracks…

"So we need to give our all to try to keep the championship open. I know it's difficult to say now, but we have to believe [we can do it] and work harder at home and on track."

Marquez entered the summer break with a commanding 58-point lead over nearest rival Dovizioso, with Petrucci 64 points from the top in third.

Dovizioso's only victory of the season so far was by 0.023s over Marquez in Qatar, with Petrucci beating the Honda rider by just 0.043s for his debut MotoGP win at Mugello.

Last year saw Ducati win at both Brno and Austria courtesy of Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo respectively, with the Desmosedici undefeated at the hard-power/hard-braking Red Bull Ring layout since the circuit returned to the calendar in 2016.