Marco Bezzecchi
Nobuatsu Aoki claims Ducati are now paying the price for prioritising Marc Marquez to develop their bike, as he has now started to see signs of “division” in their garage.
Aoki paid very close attention to the Ducati garage at the Thailand Grand Prix, and feels their failure to seal a podium for the first time since the 2021 British Grand Prix was a direct result of favouring Marquez. VR46 rider Fabio Di Giannantonio was the top Ducati in Buriram in P6.
Marquez was in the mix to earn a podium in the Thailand GP before his race ended abruptly with a rear puncture. The 33-year-old was duelling with KTM’s Pedro Acosta and Trackhouse racer Raul Fernandez when he ran wide at Turn 4 and dented his wheel rim against the kerb.
Before Marquez’s Thailand GP ended with a puncture, he also fought Acosta for the victory in the Sprint Race. Acosta did not “feel like a winner’ after the Buriram Sprint, as Marquez was ordered to drop one position on the final lap for his aggressive move to claim the lead.
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Nobuatsu Aoki thinks Ducati are divided after letting Marc Marquez lead their development
Marquez was the only rider able to make the Ducati Desmosedici GP26 work in Thailand, as the others – particularly his factory teammate Francesco Bagnaia – struggled with the hard tyre casing that Michelin used. Bagnaia only managed P9 in both races, after qualifying P13.
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But what caught Aoki’s attention the most in Thailand was the first signs of “division” within Ducati. He feels there were clearly signs of “friction” within the Borgo Panigale crew’s ranks in Buriram, which likely stemmed from Ducati letting Marquez lead their development plans.
Aoki told Young Machine: “What caught my attention at the Thai GP was Ducati. It seems that Marc Marquez’s influence is finally starting to have an impact, and there’s a slight sense of division within the team.
“Of course, this is just my impression from the outside, but there’s a bit of friction there. That makes sense. For example, let’s say a new item is added to the bike. Marquez, with his incredible physical abilities, quickly sets a good time.
“However, his teammate Francesco Bagnaia, who has the same item added to his machine, is like, ‘What is this!?’, and can’t set a good time. This is purely hypothetical, but in this scenario, Ducati would have no choice but to focus on Marquez, who was setting the times.
“The same ‘Marquez Special’ development approach that occurred during the Honda era would gradually increase and, as a result, Ducati missed out on a podium finish in a Grand Prix for the first time in 88 races.”
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Bagnaia has made it clear that he did not feel like Ducati prioritised Marquez to lead their development plans during the 2025 season. But it has been reported that Ducati felt they had to have Marquez guide their development for the GP26, not only the GP25 last term.
Also, former LCR Honda sporting director Oscar Haro claimed Ducati “realised” they gave Marquez too much power in 2025, like Honda realised following his storied time with the Japanese giant. Marquez was often the only rider able to make the Honda reach its limits.
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