Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso says his second position in Sunday’s British MotoGP round “feels like gold” after a nail-biting 20-lap duration.

Dovizioso started brilliantly to lead the first lap, then after teammate Casey Stoner came past he did battle with Jorge Lorenzo and Marco Simoncelli – both who eventually crashed out.

“I’m really happy with today’s podium. It’s a second place that feels like gold,” the Italian said. “The track conditions were very tricky, with much more water than in warm-up.

“I had a very good start and then I was focused to manage the second position with Casey. I was braking very hard to close the door to Lorenzo and Simoncelli.

“We need to improve the performance also in qualifying, but at the important moment, in the race, we are there. We never give up.

“With today’s second place we have consolidated third position in the championship and reduced the gap to Lorenzo.

“The season is still long so I’m confident.”

This was Stoner and Dovizioso’s second one-two of 2011, following their identical performance at last month’s French GP.