Petrucci: Important points but I want to be stronger

Danilo Petrucci has made a solid if unspectacular start to his factory Ducati team career, with sixth-place finishes in the opening three rounds.

That's enough for a creditable fifth in the world championship heading into this weekend's opening European round at Jerez, but a one-year contract means the Italian has a seat to defend against the likes of Pramac's COTA podium finisher Jack Miller.

In terms of Petrucci's rostrum chances, the #9 feels the Jerez circuit is more suited to his riding style than the previous flyaways.

He missed out on the Jerez podium by only 0.4s last year - after Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso collided ahead of him - then was fifth fastest (+0.164s) and top Ducati at November's test, since when there has been substantial resurfacing.

"The Jerez track, on paper, is more suited to my riding style compared with the first three circuits we've raced at so far," said Petrucci.

"During the winter tests I was fast there, even though track conditions will probably be very different this weekend. Also, I was able to fight for the podium until basically the very end of the race last year, so overall I'm confident.

"So far we've collected important points and stayed in the top five in the Championship, but obviously I want to be stronger in race conditions. This break was helpful to recharge and pinpoint some small items to improve over the weekend.

"We're working on details that can make a big difference, so I can't wait to head out to the track."

Team-mate Andrea Dovizioso leads the world championship after 1-3-4 results in the races so far.