Dovizioso feels ready to join works team

The 22-year-old Italian has been a consistent front-runner and the leading satellite team rider this year, taking his first MotoGP podium finish at Sepang last weekend.

He will replace Nicky Hayden alongside Dani Pedrosa at Repsol Honda next year.

"I'm really happy about this season - we gained a lot of experience, and I'm think I'm ready to go to the factory team," said Dovizioso.

"I want to work with the team and the bike, because when you're with a satellite team you cannot improve the bike. It will be very difficult for sure because it's the first year when I can work on the bike."

Dovizioso said he had found the transition to MotoGP fairly straightforward during pre-season testing, but was taken aback by the pace of work during grand prix weekends.

"At the beginning it was quite easy to get the feeling, especially if you have a three-day test, you can work a lot with the tyres, and if you find a good tyre you can go very fast.

"But the race weekends are very different. The levels of the riders and the bikes are very different. It's so difficult, because you need to develop the bike very fast. You cannot finish with the same bike. To work with the tyres and with the bike, there are many things to look at."

He will test the factory bike for the first time during the post-race test days at Valencia next week, but admits that it will be hard to judge the team because he will also be acclimatising to the Bridgestone tyres.

"On Monday we will try the new bike and the new tyres, so it will be quite difficult because also the team will be new for me," said Dovizioso.

"To try a different bike is so interesting for me, but to try it with the different tyres will make it so difficult to understand exactly the differences of the bike."