ADucati's ndrea Dovizioso admitted his front tyre choice cost him a chance at victory in today's Mugello MotoGP clash.

The Italian decided to go with the asymmetric hard front tyre, while race winner Jorge Lorenzo went with the medium compound front, something which ultimately saw him victorious.

“During the race I lost the front too many times and after the crash of Marc, but especially after losing the front too many times after Le Mans, during the race I was thinking about a lot of things,” said Dovizioso.

“I tried to catch Jorge but I was slower in the last part of the braking zone and the middle of the corners. I tried to change the line but nobody had grip on the rear so I couldn’t really change something big enough to catch him. I think he did a really good race, managed the medium front and soft rear in a really good way as it was very difficult. I think we took a wrong decision with the front tyre.”

Whilst Dovizioso said that he and his Ducati are usually strong at saving their tyres, the increased temperatures from FP4 could’ve been a reason for the tyre issues.

“Normally I am one of the best to save the front tyre with my riding style and the characteristics of the Ducati but we didn’t want to take a risk,” he said. “In FP4 we were quite fast with the hard tyre but maybe the heat of today it was worse working the front tyre.

“I saw Valentino lose the front tyre too many times and he had the same tyre as me so that’s the negative but we have to look at the positives: first and second for Ducati is amazing in Mugello and the championship becomes a little bit better.”

20 points for Dovizioso coupled with Marquez’ crash and subsequent non-point scoring finish saw Dovizioso reduce the gap from 49 points to 29. Despite it still being over one races worth of points, the Ducati rider remained positive about his title chances.

“Coming back to the podium and making the podium in Mugello is a target for the championship is overall I am happy because in the last three races at different tracks we were fighting for the victory,” Dovizioso said.

“That is the most important thing. I think we are more competitive and we are stronger at some tracks where we struggled last year. From here I think I can start to gain some points for the championship against Marc because he is still quite far ahead.”