Ducati needs long-term fixes for MotoGP bike, Dovizioso believes

Ducati's season started well in Qatar with Dovizioso finishing a close second to Maverick Vinales, but both the Italian and new team-mate Jorge Lorenzo failed to score in Argentina due to crashes.

Dovizioso finished sixth at Austin last weekend, ending up 14 seconds behind Marc Marquez, while Lorenzo came home in ninth place in what was his best result for the team to date, losing time late due to tyre graining.

With Ducati entering the campaign with ambitions of becoming a regular race winner and title contender with new signing Lorenzo, Dovizioso believes it must instead start thinking further into the future.

"What's happening now isn't good," he said.

"We can see we are closer [to the front] than last year, but at the moment we aren't as competitive as we would like.

"There is no precise plan, and this is the most important aspect. Now is the time to get to the table and speak about the future.

"We can't talk any more about Jerez, Le Mans or Mugello because we are a factory team and this is not the speed that will allow us to fight for the championship.

"Whether it's the end of this year or next year, this depends on a series of factors.

"You can't predict how many months it will take to make a change."

Ducati's greatest strength has traditionally been acceleration and top speed, with a lack of turning ability and mid-corner grip cited as its major weakness compared to Yamaha and Honda.

Dovizioso, though, emphasised that there was no one area Ducati has to focus on, saying instead it will have to conduct a thorough overhaul of the Desmosedici.

"We need to talk about the bike in 360 degrees," he said.

"There is no [single] bad aspect that we have to work on. It's a mix of many aspects that must work together.

"I don't want to call it a disaster, we must stay calm and work.

"But I'm the first to be disappointed and to know the limits of the bike."