Marco Bezzecchi
Ducati’s behind-the-scenes footage of Marc Marquez’s exploits at the recent Czech Grand Prix features a clip of team boss Davide Tardozzi telling the Spaniard off for riding over the limitations of his current physical state.
The Spaniard stunned yet again as he claimed his second consecutive Grand Prix victory of the year in Brno, which has further bolstered his hopes of retaining the MotoGP riders’ title. He now sits 40 points adrift of leader Marco Bezzecchi.
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However, it wasn’t all plain sailing for the Ducati ace in Czechia. Friday’s pre-qualifying practice sessions saw Marquez come off his GP26 on two separate occasions, raising fresh concerns about his fitness after a troublesome start to the current campaign.
Team boss Davide Tardozzi teased Marquez for his ‘silly mistakes’ in the press following the conclusion of proceedings last Friday, and Ducati’s behind-the-scenes footage shows just how frustrated the Italian was with his rider.
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Behind-the-scenes Ducati footage shows Davide Tardozzi warning Marc Marquez after Brno crash
As Marquez returned to the Ducati garages in his gravel-eroded red overalls, the Inside Ducati Lenovo Team cameras showed Tardozzi approaching the reigning world champion as he began to debrief with crew chief Marco Rigamonti.
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The Italian calmly told his rider, “Marc, you can’t go at 64 degrees,” referring to the angle at which Marquez was riding at when he came off his bike at turn 11.
Marquez’s physicality has been called into question on several occasions throughout the current term, and has been an overarching narrative regarding the 33-year-old’s chances of retaining his MotoGP title.
Tardozzi is aware that Marquez is unlikely to fully recover from his past injuries, and has been urging him to conserve his energy in the opening sessions of a race weekend in order to have enough left in the tank for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Marquez defended himself against Tardozzi, replying to his advice with, “It was the first lap where I was pushing, and in that change of direction, I was a bit late. I was wide. I was at least at 64 degrees.”
However, Tardozzi made it clear that he wouldn’t be fooled too easily, responding, “They caught you on camera, you were leaning incredibly low.”
“No, no. It was my mistake not to abort the lap I tried… I opened the throttle…” he replied, before the Italian manager made sure that he hadn’t suffered any serious injuries in the crash.
Following Marquez’s rout in the longer format race on Sunday, Tardozzi expressed his astonishment over his rider’s performance, citing how doctors had told him that the seven-time world champion wouldn’t be back to his best until September at the very least.
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