Image: Supplied.

As the MotoGP World Championship heads to Jerez in Spain this weekend, Andrea Dovizioso has indicated the increased competitiveness this season at historically challenging tracks for Ducati has brought greater reward than sitting atop the points standings.

The Mission Winnow Ducati rider has ridden consistently in the first three rounds, taking out a stellar victory at Qatar’s season-opener.

Leading Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) by three points, the Italian is confident of delivering a strong result this Sunday, although he acknowledges the challenges that lay ahead.

“We arrive at Jerez in the lead but, more than for the championship position itself, I’m happy first and foremost for the feeling with the bike so far this year,” Dovizioso explained.

“Our competitiveness has further increased and we managed to defend ourselves even on historically difficult tracks, but it’s also true that there are even more riders capable of fighting for the podium and the season has just started.

“I believe that in Jerez we’ll be able to be stronger than in the past, last year during the race we had already shown progress, but we need to keep our head down and work hard to make more improvements and to be contenders on every single track.”

In 2018, Dovizioso was taken out of the race by then teammate Jorge Lorenzo after the Spaniard initially collided with retired MotoGP legend Dani Pedrosa.