MotoGP rookie Andrea Dovizioso delighted by phone call from football star Francesco Totti.

Andrea Dovizioso wasn't short of congratulations after finishing a career-best equalling fourth in Sunday's Catalan Grand Prix, but it was a phone call from Italian football captain Francesco Totti that meant the most.

Indeed, Dovizioso was still buzzing a day later, when he joined the majority of his MotoGP rivals for the start of a two-day test at the Circuit de Catalunya.

"Before talking about today, I want to thank Francesco Totti for his compliments from yesterday evening, I appreciate them very much!" grinned Dovi on Monday evening.

The Italian then revealed that he had been able to increase his race pace due to some chassis and tyre improvements during the first day of the test

"I'm satisfied about my performance because I improved my race rhythm and we have developed the chassis so that now it gives me better stability," said the JiR Team Scot rider.

"The fastest lap done today is better than yesterday, but it is interesting that I could repeat this lap time for many more laps. This result is partly thanks to the work done in the pit box and also thanks to the new tyres.

"We had only the afternoon on track and we didn't try the qualifying tyres that we would like to use [on Tuesday]. I hope also to improve with these tyres too."