Tardozzi: “The best Marquez is yet to come.” From -102 to +10, but Martin isn’t the only rival

Marc Marquez leads the MotoGP World Championship by 10 points, yet some at Ducati believe the best is still to come.

The day after the Phillip Island weekend, Davide Tardozzi is not just tempering expectations about the standings: according to the Borgo Panigale team manager, we have yet to see Marc’s best races. And with four Grands Prix remaining, he is also leaving the door open for Marco Bezzecchi to emerge as his main rival.

The picture is familiar. In Saturday’s Sprint, Jorge Martin crashed while battling Marquez, sustaining a non-displaced fracture of the distal radius. Sunday’s race was then cancelled because poor visibility prevented the medical helicopter from flying. We covered the first reactions in the red garage in Jorge Martin’s injury: first reactions in the Ducati garage. Now attention turns to the season finale.

The numbers behind the comeback are impressive. Marquez has gone from 102 points behind to a 10-point lead, with six Grand Prix victories and four pole positions so far this season. At Phillip Island, the Cervera rider moved back to the top of the standings for the third time this year. Before the trip to Australia, he was just two points behind.

Asked whether the Australian Sprint was his best race, Tardozzi replied: "I think Marc’s best races are still something we’ll see in the future. Because he always surprises us. But in the end, what I saw yesterday was Marc managing the situation, thinking things through".

Tardozzi went into detail about the duel with Martin. "He wasn’t playing games, because he was really on the limit, but he was aware of the situation. And he has enormous respect for Jorge, which is why he kept fighting", he told his colleagues at Crash.net. "When Martin passed him, Marc said he was trying to respond straight away, because he knew that if Martin got one or two laps to himself, he could pull away".

The team manager nevertheless acknowledged that Sunday’s cancellation cost Ducati an opportunity, while stressing that safety comes first. He also recognised Aprilia’s bad luck, saying that the rain on Saturday morning cost them their dry-weather advantage in qualifying.

Aprilia remains the real threat, but which rider? For Tardozzi, it will depend on Sepang. "It depends on Jorge’s situation, because I have enormous respect for Marco", he told motogp.com. Bezzecchi is 50 points behind Marquez and, according to the Ducati executive, showed his full potential at Phillip Island: "I think they were unlucky, because it’s clear that Bezzecchi was very competitive in the dry. He climbed from the fourth row to fourth place" in the Sprint.

As for Martin, further examinations ruled out a second suspected fracture, and the Spaniard is aiming to return in Malaysia, although his participation has not yet been confirmed. "I’m happy to hear he’ll be in Sepang. It means the injury isn’t so serious, but we know Martin very well. He’s a hero, he’s a fast rider, so he’ll do everything he can to make life difficult for us", Tardozzi concluded. Next weekend will show whether the battle remains a two-way contest or Bezzecchi truly joins the title fight.

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