The shock transformation of MotoGP's new marked man

Although the Valencia finale provided a fittingly dramatic conclusion to this most exceptional of MotoGP seasons, it wasn't quite the fairytale ending for Andrea Dovizioso and Ducati for which many fans had been hoping.

It was always going to be a tall order for Dovizioso to beat Marc Marquez, faced with that mammoth 21-point deficit and a Ricardo Tormo circuit around which Honda held a decisive edge over Ducati's Desmosedici. He inevitably fell short.

Plenty has been made over Jorge Lorenzo's refusal to obey team orders and let through Dovizioso, but the reality is that even if the three-time premier class champion had moved over when he was given the coded instruction 'Suggested Mapping 8' on his dashboard, it would have made no difference to the outcome.

Dovizioso simply did not have the pace to beat Dani Pedrosa or Johann Zarco, let alone Marquez, to a victory that was essential to his chances. The fact that he crashed out with five laps to go in a vain bid to keep up with the leaders stands as testament.

But that doesn't mean the Italian veteran can't take immense pride in what has been a truly exceptional season, one that has transformed his reputation within the MotoGP paddock.

Given the extraordinary events of 2017, it almost seems hard to believe that Dovizioso was forced to endure seven dry years after sealing his maiden premier class win on a drizzly day at Donington Park back in 2009, his first season on board the works Honda.

Ditched by Honda when it downsized to two factory bikes in 2012, and then spurned by Yamaha when it had a vacancy to fill in its works line-up the following year, Dovizioso joined Ducati at its lowest ebb, after its disastrous two-year spell with Valentino Rossi and before Gigi Dall'Igna was recruited from Aprilia to revive its fortunes.

Since then, the picture for both rider and team has been one of steady of improvement. From occasional podium challenger to regular race winner, Dovizioso has grown with the team, becoming a key asset in its mission to regain the crown it last won all the way back in 2007 with Casey Stoner.

At the start of last year, Ducati had a choice to make. As it made a play to sign Lorenzo from Yamaha, it had to weigh up whether to keep Dovizioso or Andrea Iannone to partner its new, multi-million dollar signing. It chose Dovizioso, a decision that paid off in spectacular style - not that anyone could have known it at the time.

Dovizioso spoke of being more "ready" to fight at the front of the field this year, a state of mind no doubt influenced by finally ending what must have felt like an eternal winless streak last October in Malaysia, when he beat Rossi in the rain.

After losing out to Iannone in the race to score Ducati's first win since the Stoner era at the Red Bull Ring, the Sepang win was crucial for giving Dovizioso the self-belief needed to go up against the best MotoGP has to offer and come out on top.

It would also be fair to say that having Lorenzo as a team-mate helped Dovizioso this year. While the Spaniard's early struggles grabbed plenty of headlines, the quiet, unobtrusive Dovizioso quietly went about his business with a new authority in the Ducati pit.

"In a way, it takes some pressure off me," Dovizioso told Autosport earlier in the year. "At the beginning of the year, all eyes were on Jorge, and that was good for me. Instead of worrying about Jorge, I focused on my work and did my job.

"Jorge's arrival has confirmed some aspects of the bike that I had always talked about but a lot of people inside of the team didn't see that clearly.

"His arrival has made everyone realise what is the reality of the bike. And that, obviously, has increased my value as a rider."

Mental training from renowned psychologist Amedeo Maffei helped Dovizioso to approach race weekends more calmly and remain more focused on the job at hand, and upping his game in this department has never been something the humble, down-to-earth Dovizioso has felt the need to conceal.

In 2018, Dovizioso will be something of a marked man for his rivals, and externally he'll be seen as the number one rider at Ducati, not a support act

"I don't have any problem when admitting that I've been working on the mental side because I realised I could improve in that area," he said. "Some will consider it as a sign of weakness, but I don't see it that way.

"The difference is now I approach life and race weekends in a better way. Now I understand better some aspects, small details that are an important influence."

Another factor which ostensibly played into Dovizioso's hands was a change of front tyre voted for by riders ahead of June's Mugello race. That was where Dovizioso picked up the first of his six wins this year, something Honda man Pedrosa believes is no coincidence.

"It's clear there was a radical change at the beginning of the year when the front tyre was modified," said Pedrosa at Valencia. "Dovi went on to win races and Maverick [Vinales], who was winning races, did the opposite.

"It can be said from that moment that Dovi found some way to better understand the tyres, or how to manage them or use them better with his bike, which allows him to get more out of certain situations. That is what is making the difference."

Dovizioso proved his Mugello victory was no fluke when he backed it up with a second win a week later at Barcelona, although it wasn't until his third - and arguably finest - win at the Red Bull Ring that his title challenge really came alive.

On that day in Austria 'Dovi 2.0' was at his brilliant best: cool, precise and clinical, his style is in many ways in contrast to the impulsive, cavalier manner in which Marquez rides. That was partly what made their duel so utterly compelling, and fans were treated to a second instalment at Motegi, where again a last-lap duel went the way of Dovizioso.

The following race at Phillip Island was really where the title was lost, and Ducati and Dovizioso share roughly equal blame for the dismal 13th-place finish that relegated the Italian to rank outsider in the final two races.

Around the fast, flowing curves of the Australian track, the GP17's shortcomings were ruthlessly exposed. But Dovizioso himself dropped the ball when he ran off-track at the start of the second lap, condemning himself to a race-long scrap over 11th place.

Had he finished seventh or eighth that day, the extra points could have made the Valencia finale a much more open affair. But he could muster only 13th, and from there on his chances of ending Ducati's decade-long wait were always remote.

It must be said that at times this year, there was the nagging feeling that this season was probably going to be Dovizioso's one and only shot at title glory. Now or never.

Many comparisons have been drawn between Dovizioso's season and the late Nicky Hayden's improbable charge to the ultimate prize in 2006. The following year's switch to 800cc bikes certainly did nothing to help the American, but after taking the crown, he never came close to a second championship, not even winning another race.

There's no reason to think Dovizioso is going to suffer a similar drop-off, but equally there's little to suggest 2018 is going to be any easier for the 31-year old. Possibly for the first time since he first joined the works Honda outfit, Dovizioso will go into 2018 expected to be at the front.

He'll be something of a marked man for his rivals, and externally he'll be seen as the number one rider at Ducati, not a support act to a team-mate who is sure to be stronger next season than he was this year.

For a rider whose greatest strength has always been the amount of speed he carries into corner, adapting to a bike still lacking in the turning department was going to be tough for Lorenzo. The new aerodynamic fairing certainly helped matters, but not by enough for him to avoid his first winless MotoGP campaign.

Lorenzo said it himself at Valencia: if Dall'Igna and his team can solve the Ducati's inherent turning weakness, it will have "the best bike on the grid", and certainly a much more effective weapon for Lorenzo to launch a title assault of his own.

Combine that with the prospect of a revitalised Yamaha (plus a second-year Zarco potentially riding a bike not so different from the factory riders), as well as Marquez and Honda possibly avoiding a repeat of their tough start to 2017, and Dovizioso will be hard-pressed to repeat this year's outstanding victory tally.

But even should he never again manage to scale the lofty heights he managed during his annus mirabilis, there are few riders to have gone toe-to-toe with Marquez in last-lap battles and come out on top not once, but twice.

There are equally few to have actually beaten Marquez over a full campaign in the premier class. Membership of that particular club stands at just two: Lorenzo and Rossi.

That Dovizioso got so close to joining the pair, and with a manufacturer not exactly used to winning in recent years, is something that will be remembered by the paddock and fans alike for many years to come, regardless of what happens in future.