Ducati MotoGP team boss Davide Tardozzi says Marc Marquez’s tyre failure in the Thai Grand Prix was the result of the wheel rim “exploding” on a kerb.
The reigning world champion was having a difficult opening grand prix of the season at Buriram, as a sluggish start saw him shuffled out of the podium places.
Fighting back into fourth place, Marc Marquez was closing in on Raul Fernandez for a potential third-place finish when he retired on lap 21 of 26 with an apparent puncture.
Ducati has now clarified that the puncture came as a result of a kerb strike at Turn 4, which damaged the wheel rim.
“Unfortunately, he went to the kerb at Turn 4, and he broke the rim,” Tardozzi told TNT Sport.
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“That’s why he lost the air, and he was forced to stop. He hit the edge of the apex and he broke the wheel.
“No, I don’t remember that I’ve ever seen something like that.
“We could say that it was a mistake, but he has been really unlucky because many riders went out in Turn 4 and nobody had this problem.
“Anyway, it’s like this. [He said] he hit the kerb, he doesn’t know why, but the rim exploded.”
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A lap later, Honda’s Joan Mir also retired with a rear tyre issue.
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Michelin boss Piero Taramasso noted on Sunday that rim damage is something it has seen across the Buriram weekend, which he has blamed on the heat and the nature of the kerbs.
“We had this problem all weekend, many wheels bent when they returned to our tent because it was very hot,” he explained.
“The material is very soft, and the kerbs are very aggressive. For example, the loss of pressure in the front that Jorge Martin suffered yesterday was the same: he hit a kerb, the front wheel bent and deflated.
“Jorge had a slow loss, and Marc lost all the air all at once.”
Martin was flagged for a potential tyre pressure infringement during the sprint on Saturday, but was later acquitted after damage was found to his wheel.
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Ducati ‘still hasn’t understood’ Buriram woes
While ending pre-season testing in good shape, Ducati failed to show that kind of form during the Thai Grand Prix.
Marc Marquez was denied a win in the sprint due to a penalty, having qualified second, but the rest of the Ducati stable couldn’t get on his level.
In the grand prix, the leading Ducati was Fabio Di Giannantonio, who was over 15 seconds away race winner Marco Bezzecchi at the chequered flag.
Tardozzi says the bike has behaved differently during the race weekend compared to the test, but Ducati doesn’t understand why.
“Very difficult weekend, because it seems like Aprilia has grown up a lot, and they were incredibly fast with their four riders this weekend,” he added.
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“So, chapeau, because they did a fantastic weekend.
“In the end, there is something strange that this weekend we found the bike completely different from the previous one when we were here for the test.
“That’s something that we still haven’t understood.”
Ducati’s streak of 88 consecutive podium appearances has now been snapped, with the 2026 Thai Grand Prix the first since the 2021 British Grand Prix not to feature a Desmosedici inside the top three.
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