Preparations for Sunday’s MotoGP outing in Austria could barely have been more ideal, but Andrea Dovizioso insists there remain a number of “question marks” regarding how he an๊d his Ducati team will approach the 28-lap race.

Dovizioso carried his fine form from Brno through to Austria, 𓃲where he showed fantastic pace in FP4 before lapping the track in 1m 24.357s – just two thousandths of a second off rival Marc Marquez’s lap whicꦫh earned pole position.

In spite of missing out on top spot by the smallest qualifying margin in MotoGP since July, 2003, Dovizioso was still “very happy” with his effort from the✃ afternoon. However, tyre choice – soft and medium rear options remain open – and strategy will need much consideration in the hours before the race.

“I’m 𒁃happy,” said second fastest Dovizioso, fresh from only his third qualifying top three of the year. “We are very happy about the lap time we did in the qualifying. First row was the goal. First, second or third is not a big difference.

“I feel confident. Today🌃 it was a bit strange, especially in free practice 4 the condition was strange, maybe with a lot of water. There wasn’t maybe the rubber on the asphalt. I didn’t feel so good, so I didn’t expect to be competitive in the qualifying with this lap time.

“But overall at the end the lap time come. I feel confident with the bike. The only thing is we’re going i🍨n the race with a lot of question marks about the choice of the tyres, the strategy for what we have to manage.

“I feel good. I think we are the ri♛ders who can fight for𝔍 the victory and the podium. But we are very different so anything can happen during the race.”

In the past two races at this circuit, Dovizioso has been cautious in the race’s first half, with ty𝓀re and fuel conservation in min🧜d. Would tomorrow be the same? “I don’t know,” he said.

“I think you have to ask the other riders. Normally you have to save the tyre. You have to save a little bit of fuel. Is a long race here because it’s quite short. This is the normal st🏅rategy but doesn’t mean it will be like this.”

The Italian also confirmed he has reverted to the “old” Ducati chassis, whic🍸h he raced before Assen. Since then he has been back-to-back testing an updated frame with added carbon reinforcements, but a post-race test at Brno confirmed his overall preference.

“I use if we can call the old one," he confirmed. "We decide during the test in Brno, but the difference is almost zero. T📖here is small things for me, for my riding style. I decide that, but didn’t affect real𝔍ly, especially the speed. Is more about other things.”