Andrea Dovizioso felt was left to rue arm pump problems as the ജDucati rider saw his hopes of a rostrum finish at Mugello fade as Sunday's race progressed.

Dovizioso made a brilliant start from 15th 🔯place on the GP16 to slot into third as he gave chase to Movistar Yamaha riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi.

However, t🧸he Italian was unable to maintain his pace a𒅌nd was caught by team-mate Andrea Iannone and Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa in the final part of the race, eventually finishing in fifth place.

"I am happy about the start because I did a great start and a great first lap, so I am 𒆙happy because I did what I had to do," Dovi said.

"I was in the right position and the first half of the race wꦿas really good, but still I'm not smo꧑oth on the bike and I feel too much energy and I have the problem of arm pump, so I wasn't able to push the lap time.

"Mugello is one of the hardest tracks and when you have the arm pump you can't be aggressive in the braking, 💞but especially to stay on the limit, front and rear: the grip today was really low because the temperature today was really hot," he added.

"I tried everythingܫ I could in the last eight lap𒐪s but I went wide in turn 1 and I wasn't precise. Unfortunately I couldn't use my speed so I'm so sorry for the team."

Dovizioso feels a rostrum was well within his reach and has taken the positives from the weekend ahead of the next round at Catalunya in Spain, although he is still seekin♓g a set-up that will make the Desmosedici easier to ride.

"Th🧔e weekend started very bad but practice by practice we improved the situation and also in the warm-up we improved aꦗ little bit," he said.

"We had the pace to fight for the podium and in MotoGP I think it is something nice, but anyway I finished fifth and the posi🅰tive thing is we finished the race and for sure we had the possibility to finish on the podium.

"My feeling with the bike is good, we are fast and we are able to improve practice by practice. I am happy🍰 about how we worked during the weekend but I think we need something from the bike to be easier, not faster, but easier," he added.

"This is my objective for the future because we have the spe🦋ed, which is really good, but we need something in a few areas to really stay the🏅re in many races, not just in one race like Qatar."

His fifth row start made life difficult for Dovizioso but he had t✤aken heart from his performance on the opening laps.

"For sure to start in front and start with t💫hem makes a difference because you can man🌌age everything for 23 laps," he said.

"But I started very back and I was nervous about that, so in the firs൩t five laps I had to push a lot and [try] not to lose the first three riders.

"Like I said, we have good potential but now we have to be focused to have the🌠 same s🍸peed in an easy way.

"I struggle with arm pump for a lot of years but sometimes it is big, 𝐆sometimes not so big and you can manage: the difference is always how fast you are and 🍒especially how smooth you are."