Ducati has admitted it’s now not MotoGP’s benchmark producer, however insists it nonetheless has an opportunity of overhauling Aprilia and persevering with its title-winning run.
’s victory eventually weekend’s United States Grand Prix strengthened the assumption that Aprilia now has one of the best bike in MotoGP.
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Though the Noale manufacturing facility had already emerged as a daily winner within the second half of final season, a number of elements urged Ducati may nonetheless retain an edge over its rivals. was crucially absent from the ultimate leg of 2025, whereas Aprilia’s victories within the opening two rounds of 2026 at Buriram and Goiania additionally carried an asterisk, with Michelin having introduced particular rear tyres to these races.
However with Bezzecchi once more dominating beneath extra standard situations at Austin, even Ducati has now conceded that the steadiness of energy has shifted in Aprilia’s favour.
supervisor Davide Tardozzi believes the Borgo Panigale marque has been outdeveloped by Aprilia during the last 12 months, leaving its riders enjoying “catch-up” in races.
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“Aprilia has improved considerably,” Tardozzi instructed Sky Italy. “I checked out final 12 months’s knowledge and this 12 months’s knowledge, and it’s clear that Aprilia has made a outstanding leap in efficiency of seven- to eight-tenths of a second.
“I evaluated the 2 Aprilia riders from final 12 months and this 12 months: [Ai] Ogura and Bezzecchi. Bezzecchi had a tempo that was about 0.7s quicker, and Ogura was 0.8s quicker.
“We’ve improved by 0.1–0.2s, so clearly Aprilia’s progress is spectacular. They’ve robust riders, identical to we do, however proper now we’re enjoying catch-up a bit.
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“It’s clear that we anticipate one thing from the engineers. I consider Gigi is the primary one who isn’t pleased with this case, so I’m sure we’ll work on it, and I hope we will carry one thing to Jerez already.
“There are nonetheless 19 races left; nothing is misplaced, even when it looks as if we’re falling behind proper now.”
Marc Marquez, Ducati Staff, Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Staff, Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Marc Marquez, Ducati Staff, Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Staff, Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
After the opening three races, Aprilia has a commanding lead in all three championships, whereas Ducati is having to fend off KTM for second place.
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is Ducati’s greatest consultant within the riders’ standings, trailing not solely manufacturing facility Aprilia duo Bezzecchi and but in addition KTM’s .
Within the groups’ standings, Ducati sits a distant fourth, behind Aprilia, Trackhouse and KTM.
Ducati does have an edge over KTM within the constructors’ desk, however it’s already going through a 32-point deficit to Aprilia, which has additionally claimed one dash win along with its three grand prix victories.
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Ducati’s marketing campaign has been compromised by the bodily situation of its star rider Marquez, who’s but to make a full restoration from his Indonesia accidents. additionally missed a race on account of a coaching accident, whereas some incidents out of Ducati’s management – resembling a tyre blow-out in Thailand – have additionally value the producer some important factors.
“It is as much as us to enhance”
Tardozzi stays assured that Ducati can nonetheless struggle again within the championship, however warned that the outfit has to do extra to make sure the riders have one of the best package deal potential.
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“I’ll proceed to tip my hat to Aprilia as a result of they’ve made a big technical leap,” he stated.
“I consider we’ve an opportunity to catch up within the championship. We’re on the third race; there have been some unfortunate incidents, however past that, we have to be a bit extra cautious in our administration, in actually understanding what the riders want.
“I feel there have been conditions that prevented the riders from acting at their greatest, so it’s as much as us to attempt to enhance, and definitely Aldeguer and Marc aren’t in high type.”
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Marc Marquez, Ducati Staff
Marc Marquez, Ducati Staff
Marquez endured a troublesome race on the Circuit of The Americas final weekend, ending a distant fifth after serving a long-lap penalty early within the race. Given his earlier observe file at Austin, his lack of pace led to recent considerations about his well being and the time he wanted to get better his type.
Whereas acknowledging Marquez isn’t absolutely match, Tardozzi highlighted how the seven-time world champion nonetheless confirmed flashes of tempo at Austin.
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“In my view, the evaluation is that Marc isn’t 100% match,” he stated.
“I’ll deal with the center a part of the [Austin] race, when he overtook Raul Fernandez and Closed in on Pecco [Bagnaia] and Enea [Bastianini]. Over these 5 – 6 laps, he gained eight-tenths of a second on Bezzecchi.
“So, when he’s in good type, he’s able to driving like a primary rider for a portion of the race.”
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