Spain’s Marc Marquez is probably the last person a rider would want breathing down their neck, when leading into the final corner of a MotoGP race.

But a cool-headed Andrea Dovizioso outsmarted the Repsol Honda rider, side-stepping the inevitable lunge at the round 11 race in Austria at the weekend to match the reigning world champion on three wins this season.

“It was a very stressful last lap because it’s difficult to manage some riders behind you, especially if it is Marc,” said the Ducati rider from Italy. “He always tries something!

“I didn’t know he wasn’t very close to me at the start of the lap, so I closed the door and that meant he caught me again, so I knew in the last two corners he wanted to overtake me.

“So I left the door open to try to exit faster. He did well to stop the bike and try to exit really fast, but I was faster. I was more angry than happy because he tried to overtake me in that way! That is not a corner to try to overtake a rider.

“But to win in the last corner is always special, and especially with Marc because you know he is really good in a battle.

“It took half a lap for the feeling to come out. It was quite strange. Maybe the adrenaline in last lap was too high or strange. It’s been a long time since I won at the last corner.”

Austria was Dovi’s 14th victory in grand prix and, “one of my best for sure. Also, because everybody expected our victory here after last year, but the rules have changed. The winglets were much better in this track last year compared to this year. The situation was completely different.

“It was a very strange and difficult weekend to understand the tyres. Every day is a different temperature and the tyre was working in a different way.”

One year ago, Dovizioso lost out on victory to then Ducati team-mate Andrea Iannone, who made a last-minute switch to the soft rear tyre. This year Dovi chose the soft, despite running the medium in qualifying, while the likes of Marquez went to the other extreme and ran the hard.

“We understood the medium was good in qualifying, but the soft was good in the race, with the hot temperature,” Dovizioso said. “This is what we expected. This is what Michelin explained to us before the weekend.

“I had to manage the tyre. I couldn’t push at the beginning, so me and Marc saved a lot the tyre and that gave us the possibility to push in the last laps. If we didn’t do that, we couldn’t make that lap time at the end of the race.

“When you save the tyre you save also the fuel. So I didn’t have any limit and I didn’t change any maps during the race.”

Dovizioso has now moved ahead of Maverick Vinales (sixth in Austria) for second place in the world championship standings, 16 points from Marquez.

“Now Dovi’s second in the championship, with the same number of victories as me,” Marquez said. “Some people “He’s riding really good. He has a really good pace. It will be a really nice and hard fight until the end.”

Dovizioso insists the top five are all still in title contention, despite Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa slipping 33 and 35 points adrift.

“More or less in the last six races we were competitive,” he said. “Still we have to improve something if we want to fight until the end of the championship, because I believe until the end we are five to fight for the championship.

“Every weekend the tyre works in a different way. Every team has to understand and analyze every detail. You have a chance to improve the situation a lot or make a mistake with the wrong tyre. So, really happy about the way we have been working. The new fairing here also worked well here. We will see if we use it in the future.”

Dovizioso’s previous best MotoGP season was third in the 2011 world championship, for Repsol Honda. Dovizioso credits his superb form to making many small changes in his approach to racing.

“It’s not about taking more risk, just about managing all situations in a better way,” he said. “When you are already fast or you already made a good result, a small change can create a big difference. Overall training, mentality, all these things.

“In this sport, you have to always try to improve in every area. That I think is one of the reasons why, at 31 years old, I’m here to fight for the championship and did not in the past.”

Team-mate and triple MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo led the opening 12 laps of the race, before fading to fourth.

The British MotoGP at Silverstone takes place on August 27.

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RESULTS & STANDINGS:

Austrian MotoGP result:

1. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (GP17) 39m 43.323s
2. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda (RC213V) 39m 43.499s
3. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda (RC213V) 39m 45.984s
4. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (GP17) 39m 49.986s
5. Johann Zarco FRA Monster Yamaha Tech3 (YZR-M1)* 39m 50.585s
6. Maverick Viñales ESP Movistar Yamaha (YZR-M1) 39m 50.770s
7. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha (YZR-M1) 39m 52.318s
8. Alvaro Bautista ESP Pull&Bear Aspar (GP16) 39m 57.838s
9. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia (GP15) 40m 2.943s
10. Mika Kallio FIN Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 40m 3.089s
11. Andrea Iannone ITA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 40m 3.424s
12. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac (GP16) 40m 8.846s
13. Aleix Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 40m 10.023s
14. Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar (GP15) 40m 10.644s
15. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 40m 11.419s

Riders’ World Championship standings:

1. = Marc Marquez SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) 174 points
2. ^1 Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (GP17) 158 points (-16)
3. ˅1 Maverick Viñales SPA Movistar Yamaha (YZR-M1) 150 points (-24)
4. = Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha (YZR-M1) 141 points (-33)
5. = Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) 139 points (-35)
6. = Johann Zarco FRA Monster Yamaha Tech3 (YZR-M1)* 99 points (-75)
7. ^3 Jorge Lorenzo SPA Ducati Team (GP17) 79 points (-95)
8. ˅1 Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech3 (YZR-M1)* 77 points (-97)
9. = Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 76 points (-98)
10. ˅2 Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac (GP17) 75 points (-99)
11. = Alvaro Bautista SPA Pull&Bear Aspar (GP16) 52 points (-122)
12. ^1 Aleix Espargaro SPA Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 43 points (-131)
13. ˅1 Jack Miller AUS EG 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 43 points (-131)
14. ^1 Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia (GP15) 38 points (-136)
15. ˅1 Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac (GP16) 37 points (-137)
16. = Andrea Iannone ITA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 33 points (-141)
17. = Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar (GP15) 25 points (-149)
18. = Tito Rabat SPA EG 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 23 points (-151)
19. = Pol Espargaro SPA Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 21 points (-153)
20. = Hector Barbera SPA Reale Avintia (GP16) 21 points (-153)
21. = Alex Rins SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)* 12 points (-162)
22. = Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 8 points (-166)
23. = Michele Pirro ITA Ducati Team (GP17) 7 points (-167)
24. NA Mika Kallio FIN Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 6 points (-168)
25. ˅1 Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* 2 points (-172)