Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi believes reigning champion Marc Marquez is still “not in good shape” after last year’s Indonesian shoulder injuries.
“If you ask me for a percentage, I can’t say, but I’m sure he’s not in good shape,” Tardozzi told Sky Italia.
“Unfortunately, what happened in Indonesia is still having consequences. He’s not back to normal yet.”
Compounding Marquez’s physical issues is that Aprilia, which scored another one-two with Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin in Sunday’s US MotoGP, has made a big step over the winter.
“Aprilia has improved tremendously. Looking at the data between last year and this year, they’ve gained seven or eight tenths,” GPone.com quotes Tardozzi as saying.
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“We’ve gained one or two [tenths]. It’s an impressive increase. They have strong riders, like us, but we need to hurry up.”
Ducati’s top riders at COTA, Francesco Bagnaia (second) in the Sprint and Fabio di Giannantonio (fourth) in the grand prix, suffered with significant tyre wear.
“di Giannantonio and Bagnaia clearly stated that they couldn’t manage the rear tyre. They were too dependent on the rear, wear was too high – especially on the right shoulder – and at a certain point, they could no longer ride,” Tardozzi confirmed.
US MotoGP Race Lap Times: Ducatis plus Marco Bezzecchi.
© Peter McLaren
But he also highlighted that Marquez, who finished fifth after serving a long lap penalty for colliding with Diggia in the Sprint, set a very fast mid-race pace when free from traffic ahead (see chart above).
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“When he passed Raul Fernandez and caught up to Pecco and Bastianini, he gained eight-tenths in 5-6 laps. This means that when he’s in healthy shape, he’s capable of staying up front,” Tardozzi said.
Marquez then became embroiled in more battles as he gained places from laps 15 to 18, then was chased by Tech3 KTM’s Enea Bastianini to the chequered flag.
Ducati leg wings, rear aero, 2026 US MotoGP.
© Gold and Goose
While Marquez will spend the one-month spring break caused by the postponement of Qatar working on his shoulder, Tardozzi expects a technical response from the Ducati engineers.
“We expect something from the engineers. We need to work on it and hope to bring something to the table as early as Jerez,” he said.
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“There are still 19 races left; nothing is lost, even if it seems like we’re playing catch-up right now. Aprilia has made a huge leap – hats off to them. But we have a chance to get back into the championship.”
Ducati debuted some Aprile-style rear aero and leg wings during the US MotoGP.
di Giannantonio is currently the top Ducati rider in the MotoGP World Championship, in fourth and 31 points behind Bezzecchi.
Marc Marquez is fifth and 36 points adrift, having lost valuable points due to a wheel rim failure in the Thai Grand Prix, then the Sprint mistake at COTA.
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