Ducati, Tardozzi: “Marquez? We’ll manage him, but Bagnaia has priority”

Marquez in the Lenovo Ducati team

On Monday, during the sleepy winter tests at Mugello ruined by rain, the most classic of market bombs exploded. The following emerged from multiple sources Ducati’s decision to entrust an official team bike to Marc Marquezfollowed a few minutes later by the equally sensational officialisation of Jorge Martin’s transfer to Aprilia in 2025.

Davide Tardozzi’s comment

Intercepted by the newspaper CycleWorldthe sporting director of Borgo Panigale, Davide Tardozzi, spoke about the painful choice of the Ducati leaders: “We are really sorry to lose Martin and Enea, two riders we believe in a lot. We would have liked to keep them, but in the end we had to make a choice“. And therefore Bagnaia will have to share the garage with Marquez, a circumstance that does not scare the red garage: “Pecco has often repeated that he hopes to maintain the existing harmony in the garage and therefore his concern is that there are no situations that could damage this atmosphere. But it is also our priority“. And he assures: “We don’t think that Marc’s presence could create problems inside the garage. We think we are capable of managing two champions like Marc and Pecco.”

Tardozzi then wanted to clear the field of inferences about the choice dictated by marketing: “The final decision was made on Sunday after the race. Marc was chosen for his ability to adapt to the bike very quickly and the performance offered at the start of the season. Clearly saying no to Jorge was a shame, but we tried to keep both until it became clear that it wouldn’t be possible and we found ourselves at a crossroads.”
But Bagnaia must remain calm: “Marc is the rider with the most titles on the grid”underlined Tardozzi, continuing: “But this does not distract our attention from the world champion, Pecco has our total trust, it has given the guidelines for the development of the bike in recent years and it is our priority, it comes before everyone. So we thought we’d give him the best companion possible.”