Works Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso believes the GP15 has lost some of its early-season MotoGP pace as particularly Yamaha have upped their game in the last couple of races and pulled a gap over the chasing pack.

Even though team-mate Andrea Iannone bagged fourth place at Assen, he finished some 19 seconds behind winner Valentino Rossi and five seconds behind Jorge Lorenzo in third place while Dovizioso had to retire with a broken seat unit.

“In the last couple of races maybe we have lost a bit of speed compared to our rivals. Even though my teammate did a good job at Assen, he could only cross the finish-line some way behind the leaders,” said Dovizioso.

“The impression is that our adversaries have improved their performance and increased the gap. However every circuit has its different characteristics, and we will try and get closer at the Sachsenring. I think the German circuit is a bit short and narrow for MotoGP bikes, but the GP15 is proving to be competitive at every circuit and we must continue to work to try and get the best possible result every weekend.”