MARQUEZ SAYS DUCATI SHOULD NOT IGNORE APRILIA’S AERO IDEAS

Marc Marquez says Ducati must stay open to ideas from rivals as it tries to keep pace with Aprilia at Phillip Island, where the two manufacturers set the tone on Friday.

Marquez was the only Ducati rider to break into the top three, finishing the afternoon session behind Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez. He was the only rider to split four Aprilias in the top five. Marquez had topped FP1 and ended the day two places ahead of championship leader Jorge Martin, whose advantage over him is just two points. Alex Marquez was the next-best Ducati rider in sixth.

The reigning champion was pleased with his progress, saying he had found the feeling he wanted at the Australian circuit. He set a 1:26.901 in the afternoon, 0.126 seconds behind Bezzecchi. “I’m very happy because I have the feeling I was hoping for here at Phillip Island,” he said. But he acknowledged that Aprilia’s bikes were especially strong through the circuit’s fast corners and flowing sections. “It’s as we expected: Aprilia is very strong here,” he said. “But we are fast too.”

Rain could disrupt the weekend, making Friday’s dry-weather form less decisive. Marquez said the team had tested several changes and needed to be prepared if conditions turned wet. “The weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday isn’t particularly good, but you have to be ready in case things change,” he said. “In the dry, we are there.” He also cautioned that rain might not erase Aprilia’s advantage: a fast rider and a strong bike, he said, can remain competitive in any conditions.

One of the changes he tried was new rear swingarm aerodynamics resembling a solution used by Aprilia. Marquez kept the parts on his bike because they did not feel worse than the previous version, although he said Ducati still had details to understand and could not yet put a figure on any time gain. “When you try new things and they’re not worse, that means they could be an improvement in the future,” he said.

The visible resemblance marks a reversal of sorts: Ducati has often led MotoGP development, with rivals watching the ideas brought to the Desmosedici by technical chief Gigi Dall’Igna and his engineers. Bezzecchi, now an Aprilia rider after working with Dall’Igna at Ducati, said he had not seen Marquez’s new parts but praised the engineer’s approach. “Gigi is a beast. He’s really strong and I admire him a lot,” he told MotoGP.com, recalling the passion and effort Dall’Igna put into every detail. “Most of the time we looked at Ducati, but it’s wonderful to see this exchange,” Bezzecchi added. He also described Dall’Igna as “a good guy”.

Marquez welcomed Ducati’s willingness to keep developing with five rounds remaining and the title fight still close. “What’s important to me is that Ducati is working and giving everything. We still have five races, and they keep bringing new things so we can fight for the championship,” he said.

Asked whether Ducati was copying Aprilia, Marquez rejected the idea that manufacturers should avoid borrowing inspiration. “An engineer, a rider or a person shouldn’t be arrogant and use only their own ideas,” he said. “Sometimes you can learn from others, and sometimes others can learn from you.”

He added that he did not see Ducati’s approach as simply copying and pasting. In racing, he said, teams and riders watch what competitors are doing in search of performance. “It’s a competition. Everyone looks at what the others are doing. I do that too,” Marquez said. “The most important thing is growing and trying to improve yourself and your team.”