Source: Supplied.

Andrea Dovizioso says the fight for second in the 2018 MotoGP World Championship is ‘becoming interesting’ as the series heads into the penultimate round at Sepang this weekend.

The Ducati Team contender is positioned second in the standings with 210 points to his name, while third’s Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) has accumulated 195 points with two rounds to go.

Dovizioso is targeting victory at the weekend’s grand prix to grant himself the best opportunity of earning vice champion honours, acknowledging fellow Italian Rossi historically performs well at the Malaysian venue.

“Our main aim now is to try and win in Malaysia and for sure we can be competitive at Sepang, even though things are different than last year for many reasons,” Dovizioso explained.

“The fight for second place in the championship is now becoming interesting, because Rossi is still not far behind me, even though in Australia I gained a few points on him. So we must remain focussed because this is a track where he has always gone well.”

A podium at the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix last weekend boosted Dovizioso’s chances of clinching second in the standings, capitalising on Rossi’s P6 result.