DUCATI DENIES MARQUEZ DICTATES BIKE DEVELOPMENT

Ducati team boss Davide Tardozzi has rejected claims that the manufacturer is developing its 2026 MotoGP bike around Marc Marquez, calling the suggestion “idle gossip” after the Indonesian Grand Prix.

The speculation has grown amid contrasting fortunes within Ducati. With five rounds remaining, Marquez is the only Ducati rider in the championship’s top five. VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio is sixth, more than 100 points behind him. Marquez is also the only Ducati rider to have won more than once this season and sits just two points behind championship leader Jorge Martin. Pecco Bagnaia, meanwhile, has struggled since Marquez joined the factory team, prompting questions about whether the bike’s direction favours the Spaniard.

Tardozzi told Sky Italy that the standings reflected the strength of Aprilia’s riders, rather than a development programme designed for Marquez. “I’m completely against those who claim that Marc Marquez has tailored the bike’s development to his own needs,” he said. “It’s absolutely not true.”

He said he had seen the contributions made by Ducati’s riders and the decisions taken during development, adding that the team had also tried to find solutions for Bagnaia, even though those efforts had not worked out. Tardozzi stressed that Ducati can adapt the bike to individual riders rather than expecting one setup to suit everyone.

As examples, he noted that Bagnaia uses a different fairing from Marquez and had long run a different swingarm aerodynamic configuration. Factory riders, as well as Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio, can choose their own components, he said. “We don’t build the bike for Marc Marquez and then expect it to work for everyone; it doesn’t work that way.”

The debate echoes earlier criticism of Honda during Marquez’s time there, when it was often argued that the RC213V was not developed in a way that helped other riders match his ability to extract performance. Tardozzi’s response is that Ducati’s approach is different: each rider can pursue a configuration that suits them, and Marquez’s success does not mean the bike has been built to his specifications.