Marco Bezzecchi
Ducati boss Davide Tardozzi has teased Marc Marquez for crashing twice in practice at the 2026 Czech Grand Prix, as both incidents arose due to pushing the limits at Brno.
Marquez enjoyed a mixed start to his Czech GP weekend on Friday, as he set the pace in FP1 despite ending the session in the gravel and overcame an early fall during the timed practice session to secure an automatic Q2 spot. His fastest lap of a 1:51.988 was enough to take P5.
Seven-time MotoGP champion Marquez set the benchmark lap in practice when he became the first rider to dip into the 1:51s. But the 33-year-old could not improve his lap in the final minutes, as Trackhouse star Ai Ogura topped practice at Brno with a new all-time lap record.
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Ogura set a 1:51.735 aboard his satellite Aprilia RS-GP, destroying the 1:53.303 lap that had earlier seen Marquez top the FP1 timesheets at the Czech GP. Marquez’s FP1 marker might have been lower had he not crashed trying to push through Turn 7 with three minutes left.
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Ducati team manager Tardozzi believes Marquez’s FP1 crash and his later fall at the start of practice were similar, as both incidents occurred due to him trying to force the front end of the bike past its limits. Marquez added a fall at Turn 11 to his day when he folded the front.
“[It was] just, I can say, stupid mistakes,” Tardozzi told TNT Sports 2 (19/06, 14:26). “He was forcing it a bit, but he lost the front, but nothing happened. But we knew that the opponents will be fast, and despite [the crash] this morning, he was the fastest.”
A small moment as Marquez tried to push through the middle of Turn 11 just 10 minutes into the timed practice session at the Czech GP was enough to unsettle his Ducati GP26, and it sent him into the gravel again. His second incident also ruined the left-hand side of the bike.
Pieces of Marquez’s Ducati littered the gravel trap at Turn 11, but he was able to walk away from a crash seemingly unhurt for the second time in a day. The crashes clearly did not put any wrinkles in the Spaniard’s momentum, too, as his trademark approach came to the fore.
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Seeing Marquez walk away unhurt twice was arguably the most important aspect from the crashes for Ducati, given his recent return from injury. Tardozzi also admits that Marquez’s body is still “not 100% ready”, as the 33-year-old needs muscle mass in his right shoulder.
Tardozzi added: “We came here with the same attitude to win both races. But we know that we need time, for sure, on the side of Marc, because his body is not 100% ready … I think that he will fight for the podium.”
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