{"id":561141,"date":"2026-03-24T13:04:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T13:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/561141\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T13:04:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T13:04:12","slug":"we-cant-always-rely-on-marc-marquez-to-make-up-for-our-shortcomings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/561141\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe can\u2019t always rely on Marc Marquez to make up for our shortcomings\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ducati admits it must raise its own level to challenge Aprilia in MotoGP, conceding it cannot continue to rely on its star rider Marc Marquez<\/a> \u201cto make up for our shortcomings\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Italian manufacturer is facing its toughest start to a MotoGP season in several years, with Aprilia dominating the opening two grands prix of the season in Thailand and Brazil to seize early control of the championship<\/p>\n

While Marquez impressed by winning the sprint at Goinia, neither he nor polesitter Fabio di Giannantonio<\/a> had any answer to the factory Aprilias on Sunday, as Marco Bezzecchi<\/a> led team-mate Jorge Martin<\/a> in a commanding 1-2.<\/p>\n

Ducati team<\/a> manager Davide Tardozzi said the marque must focus on improving the Desmosedici rather than leaning on Marquez\u2019s ability to extract results, particularly as the Spaniard continues his recovery from a shoulder injury he sustained last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, we also have Marc, who isn\u2019t 100% physically, though that\u2019s no excuse since the other Ducatis are also behind,\u201d Tardozzi told Motorsport.com. \u201cWe can\u2019t always rely on Marc\u2019s talent to make up for our shortcomings.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarc isn’t at 100%, but like all great champions, he doesn’t dwell on it and just works hard to try to bring home the best possible results.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Davide <\/p>\n

Davide Tardozzi, Team Manager, Ducati<\/p>\n

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography \/ LAT Images \/ via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Once a perennial backmarker, Aprilia has made rapid progress under the current leadership to emerge as the most credible threat to Ducati\u2019s dominance in the championship.<\/p>\n

Ducati first began showing signs of vulnerability last year as factory rider Francesco Bagnaia<\/a> struggled to consistently run at the front, even as his team-mate Marquez romped to a seventh premier class title. The situation was compounded by the loss of Pramac to Yamaha, leaving Ducati with six bikes on the grid.<\/p>\n

The opening two races of 2026 saw Michelin bringing tyres with stiffer rear casings, while the addition of the Goiania track was always going to lead to some unpredictability. This means a clearer competitive picture may only emerge from this weekend\u2019s third round in Austin.<\/p>\n

Tardozzi said Ducati understands the problems that have affected its early-season form, with general manager Gigi Dall\u2019Igna already working on finding solutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all,\u00a0congratulations\u00a0to Aprilia; they’ve done a great job since last year,\u201d he said. \u201cI think they’ve been very competitive since the middle of last season. They’ve taken a huge step forward recently, so all we can do is congratulate them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Aprilia will continue to be competitive in Austin, but I\u2019m sure Ducati will be closer. They\u2019ll also be very strong in Jerez, but we can be closer. We know the problem and are looking for a way to solve it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs for us, in the areas where we\u2019re falling a bit behind, Gigi (Dall\u2019Igna) has been working since the winter to help us catch up. It\u2019s clear that Aprilia has done a very good job, and it won\u2019t be easy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese have been two very difficult races; they\u2019ve taught us a lot. We\u2019re no longer alone. Our rivals have improved significantly and now we must prove that Ducati is capable of closing the gap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bagnaia\u2019s difficult start to the 2026 season continued in Brazil, with a crash from 11th place bringing his weekend to a premature end.<\/p>\n

Tardozzi admitted that Ducati needs to offer him a bike on which he can ride confidently, but noted his weekend was already compromised with an incident in qualifying that left him 11th on the grid.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s not bad luck; it’s a mistake that stems from the fact that we haven’t been able to give him the confidence he needs to race at his best, but he himself has admitted that the problem stems from his mistake in Saturday’s qualifying,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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– The Motorsport.com Team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ducati admits it must raise its own level to challenge Aprilia in MotoGP, conceding it cannot continue to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,269814,269813,8542,276760,4280,5745,806,805,803,804,85],"class_list":["post-561141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-autu00f3dromo-internacional-ayrton-senna","tag-brazil-gp","tag-ducati-team","tag-ducati-u201cwe-canu2019t-always-rely-on-marc-marquez-to-make-up-for-our-shortcomingsu201d","tag-marc-marquez","tag-motogp","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}