Andrea Dovizioso is hoping that a perceived lack of restraint in certain situations from Marc Marquez could be the difference between becoming MotoGP champion and runner up at this weekend’s Valencia finale.

The Ducati man goes into the weekend with a 21-point gap to series leader Marquez but is hopeful that Marquez won’t be able to help himself if he gets into a scrap during Sunday’s race. The Italian needs to win with the Spaniard in the bottom half of the points if he is to take a maiden premier class title.

"He is very good and knows how to handle these situations well. It is also true that when he sees an opportunity, he struggles to restrain himself, and then an error can always happen. But talking about his mistakes makes no sense. Our strategy is to try and win the race,” said Dovizioso, speaking at the track.

"Maybe us winning is less likely than Marquez retiring.  Valencia has features that are not easy for our bike, but last year we were not so far away. This year we will be more competitive. After the season we had, I don't feel defeated, absolutely not. We have shown that we can be competitive in places we weren't in the past."

Marquez said he will ride at 100 per cent until Sunday warm-up and then assess the situation at Valencia, an anti-clockwise circuit at which he has always been fast…