Dovizioso certain victory is possible

Although the Italian was 0.446 seconds off the pace, as he traditionally struggles in qualifying and then improves in the race, he believes he can stay with the leaders on Sunday.

Dovizioso was particularly pleased to be within 0.315s of his Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa in third.

"Three tenths in qualifying for me is gold," said Dovizioso. "Unfortunately it's much, much more tenths normally, and then I'm fighting for the victory [in the race].

"So I'm so happy about the fourth position, on one of my worst tracks. For me it was always difficult to be fast here. I think we have a good pace to fight. Sure, we were a few tenths from Dani, [Jorge] Lorenzo and Casey [Stoner], but it's close for me, so I think we can fight and stay with them."

Asked if he was aiming for a podium tomorrow, Dovizioso declared that he was aiming for the win.

"We have a high possibility to fight for the podium, but I hope not just for the podium," he said. "We are really close, closer than for a few races and we've already been fighting with them. So I'm confident."

But he admitted that polesitter Lorenzo's Yamaha remains potentially a faster package, and that Pedrosa has a better handle on the Sachsenring than him.

"Compared to Dani, he has a good line and he is always fast here, he knows exactly where to put the bike," said Dovizioso.

"About Lorenzo, I was behind him for a few laps this morning and in a few places his bike is better. So we'll struggle a little. He can turn on a good line. I can't do the same line and come back. That makes the difference because he can enter faster, he can be faster in the middle of the corner, and be in a good position on the exit."