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Andrea Dovizioso has staked his claim for a 2017 Ducati MotoGP ride, amid the increasing likelihood the team will lure world champion Jorge Lorenzo.

An announcement that Lorenzo will move from Yamaha to Ducati next year is widely expected before the first European race of 2016 at Jerez next weekend.

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Both Dovizioso and team-mate Andrea Iannone are out of contract at the end of this season, and one would have to make way for the three-time world champion.

Dovizioso is in his fourth season as a factory Ducati rider and Iannone his second, and while Iannone did finish two places ahead in the 2015 standings, Dovizioso feels his Ducati contribution means he is well placed.

"To build a MotoGP bike is super complicated and no-one can be said to be indispensable, neither a rider nor an engineer," Dovizioso told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.

"You need the whole group. But the indications I gave for the 2015 bike - the basis of everything good we have now - when [Ducati Corse general manager Luigi] Dall'Igna arrived were very important.

"The people at Ducati know what has happened these last four years, Gigi has seen it for three, they have all information in order to understand the riders' characteristics, the development work, the approach, the professionalism.

"If they choose me, it's because they agree with my reasoning, my work method.

"Should they choose differently, I will be equally serene.

"I've struggled plenty these years, but now we are here with a bike that has never been this competitive, not even when [Casey] Stoner was winning with it."

Dovizioso also believes that his experience would be a consideration within Lorenzo's camp, if the Spaniard completes the deal and has a say on his team-mate.

"For sure they know I'm a professional and I'm not out of my mind, and they imagine what I can give with development," he added.

The 30-year-old feels that a Ducati exit "would be an unfinished job", but would appear to have other options, namely Suzuki - especially if it loses Maverick Vinales to Yamaha - and the incoming KTM, which has already signed Bradley Smith.

When asked of those potential options, Dovizioso said: "Everyone has already made moves in order to understand and evaluate.

"For the experience I have, almost everyone has come forward: I weigh up projects."

Translation by Michele Lostia