Ducati Corse Andrea Dovizioso was obviously bothered in the last couple of races, which saw him crashing out early because of costly miscues. Having four podium finishes in five races, the Italian was in contention for the MotoGp Title but unfortunately two consecutive race crashes might have already ended his chances to close the gap to the leaders.

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Now, Dovizioso is sitting 4th place in the Championship Standings with 55 points behind the leader Valentino Rossi. Rossi considered his Italian rival as one of the strongest contenders for this year's championship, especially in the early races. However, after back-to-back setbacks, it would be a tall order for Dovizioso to make a comeback.

At Mugello, Dovi crashed out of the race because of sprocket problem - an issue analysts believed could have been averted if Dovi's team checked out and fixed before the Grand Prix. But the crash at Catalunya made the Italian even more remorseful because he knew that his team worked very well and had a good set up during the race which could have given them an opportunity to fight for another podium finish.

At this upcoming race at Assen, Dovizioso stressed that it will be very important for them, as they know it will be the deciding moment to make a comeback on the podium once more. Even though the Italian is aware that it would be brutally competitive race at Assen, Dovi's team is still optimistic of their chances with their very quick Gp15.

The TT Circuit of Assen has a unique layout where it has a length of 4,555 meters (2.830 mi) with the mixture of super fast flat-out and slow corners. The longest straight is 560 meters (0.348 mi). The curves on this track were traditionally banked and the surface is extremely grippy. Also, the Assen Grand Prix is notorious for presenting mixed conditions on race day.

While Dovizioso misfortune in the last couple of races has been devastating for his championship aspiration, his teammate Andrea Iannone just had his first 2nd place finish in his career at Mugello before missing the podium with a lucky 4th place in Catalunya

TagsAndrea Dovizioso, MotoGP, Valentino Rossi, Marc Marquez, Ducati Corse