Marquez's 110-point advantage at the end of the Buriram race with respect to Andrea Dovizioso confirms two things. The first, obviously, is that the Spanish champion has won his eighth world title, his sixth in MotoGP and his fourth consecutive victory. The second, perhaps less clear, is that the second-placed rider is the Ducati of Andrea Dovizioso for a third consecutive year, the Italian second again, beaten again.

"Marquez has been incredible - states Dovi - he's thrashed us all and we can only congratulate him. He's fought for the win at every single track and, Austin crash aside, his worst result has been second. We've worked in the best possible way, even in this second part of the season. My aim was to win the title and so not achieving that is disappointing, as is the gap between us and Marc, greater than in the last two years".

Beating him has become difficult, he's become smarter, but it's not impossible

Dovi's words are sincere, also because you can only be honest and objective when faced with the figures.

"Beating him has become really difficult. Marc has improved so much since his first year in MotoGP and has become smarter, year after year, better understanding his limits and making less and less mistakes. I have to try and improve because I know that beating him is not impossible”.

It was just me and Marc before, now Yamaha and Suzuki are there too

You'll try again next year, but what might change?

"We need to improve because our rivals have got a lot closer and while before it was just me and Marc, now the Yamahas and Suzukis are up there too, having perhaps improved more than us. Another important factor will be the tyres that were very different this year, consdering that in some races we could push from the first to the last lap. I need to try and understand the bike's true potential to be able to work effectively over the winter. We've been talking about this for a long while with Ducati, development is not slowing".

What kind of race was it today?

"I could have expected that kind of race, but hoped it would be different. It wasn't particularly tiring, I rode smoothly, but I couldn't push more than I did. We worked hard, also in warm-up, to improve our speed through the second part of the track, but it wasn't enough, the gap was too great. I'm disappointed, sure, but I know I've done my best."

Audio recorded by Marco Caregnato