Andrea Dovizioso has acknowledged Ducati is still struggling to adjust to Marc Marquez's style of racing in the 2019 MotoGP season.
Marquez cruised to a second successive victory at the Czech Grand Prix on Sunday, claiming his 50th premier class win to move 63 points clear of Dovizioso in the drivers standings.
Though Dovizioso kept pace with Marquez for 11 of the 20 laps at Automotodrom Brno, the defending champion pulled away from there, eventually finishing 2.4 seconds clear.
Dovizioso, whose second-place finish halted a three-race streak without a podium finish, was pleased with his performance in the opening half of the grand prix, but conceded there was little he could do once Marquez stepped up the pace.
"It was a strange race. At the start we were riding in a perfect way," Dovizioso said. "We did everything to the maximum. But half way through the race he pushed more in braking and I couldn't stay there. I'm happy to be back on the podium.
"I wanted to stay with him until the end but he's riding a bit different compared to last year. We're still struggling a bit with that."
Marquez led from the off on Sunday, though only because of a stunning performance in qualifying, when the 26-year-old somehow displaced Johann Zarco on provisional pole on his penultimate lap.
Repsol Honda's star rider said: "I'm very happy because it was a crazy weekend. The team was very precise and that helped me achieve this victory.
"The strategy was clear, push from the beginning to the end. I keep pushing, keep going. In the end, I started to drop, but [Dovizioso] dropped a bit before me."
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