Davide Tardozzi shares ‘obvious’ Ducati disadvantage from injured Marc Marquez missing rest of 2025

Add as preferred source on Google

Davide Tardozzi admits that Ducati will now face a clear disadvantage after confirming that Marc Marquez will not be racing again in 2025 to focus on recovering from injury.

The Borgo Panigale crew announced on Thursday that Marquez will now miss the rest of the 2025 MotoGP season after his recent surgery on a shoulder injury. Marquez hoped to return for the post-season Valencia Test in November, but he will now focus on returning next year.

Marquez required surgery on the coracoid process and ligaments in his right shoulder after a first lap crash with Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi in Indonesia. Ducati had also hoped the 32-year-old would only miss the races in Australia and Malaysia, yet he needs longer to recover.

Ducati revealed while announcing that Marquez will miss the rest of the 2025 season due to his injury that the Spaniard’s arm needs to be completely immobilised for four weeks before he can begin his rehabilitation. The 2025 season concludes in Valencia on November 14-16.

Ducati will miss not having Marc Marquez’s data in the 2025 Valencia Test after his injury

Marquez hoped to return for the post-season Valencia Test in November as Ducati will have their 2026 Desmosedici on track for the first time. But the Cervera native will not be able to sample Ducati’s 2026 bike until at least the first pre-season test at Sepang on February 3-5.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Marc Marquez from net worth to girlfriend

Team manager Davide Tardozzi admits that Marquez’s absence at the Valencia Test through injury will also deal Ducati an “obvious” disadvantage, as they will not be able to record the 2025 champion’s data on their 2026 bike and make any adjustments based on his feedback.

Tardozzi told TNT Sports 2 (24/10, 08:38): “Yeah, it’s obvious that it’s a shame not having his feedback about the new bike we’ll bring to the after-race test in Valencia.

“But we know that he will be there with us [and] we will share the data. So, Marc is Marc. We are not worried that he will start the [2026] season here in Malaysia next year.”

Luigi Dall’Igna admits Marc Marquez’s injury hands Ducati a ‘big problem’ developing their 2026 MotoGP bike

Marquez is the only reason why Ducati homologated their GP25 in 2025, having proven the potential of the bike during the Sepang Test this February after joining their factory team. It is likely that Ducati would have retained the GP24 as their works bike without his feedback.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Ducati from the MotoGP team’s riders to hierarchy

Ducati might now face having to make a similarly late decision about which bike the Bologna Bullets homologate for the 2026 season. Ducati will need to rely on Francesco Bagnaia, Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio to show the GP26’s initial potential in the Valencia Test.

General manager Luigi Dall’Igna also shares Tardozzi’s feeling that Marquez’s absence at the Valencia Test will deal Ducati a “big problem”, as they cannot use the 32-year-old’s feedback to develop the GP26. Marquez has been the only rider able to maximise the GP25 this term.

Dall’Igna told GPOne: “The goal is definitely that Marc returns physically at 100%. That’s precisely why we’re taking all the time we need. We decided together to take all the time needed to get back to 100%.

“Then it’s definitely a problem for us. We already had the goal of using these last five races as a bit of development for the season.

“Obviously, we can’t do that in the next races but, above all, we can’t do it in the Valencia test, either. So, from our professional point of view, it’s definitely a big problem.”