Davide Tardozzi has named Andrea Dovizioso as a key part of Ducati’s rise to becoming a dynasty on the MotoGP grid, just weeks after Francesco Bagnaia named himself and Jack Miller as the most important players in Borgo Panigale’s path to the top.
Before Francesco Bagnaia’s back-to-back riders’ championship feats with Ducati beginning in 2022, Casey Stoner held the moniker of being the only rider who was able to bring a world title back to Bologna for the iconic Italian racing outfit.
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Bagnaia’s first triumph came at a point in time in which Ducati’s ensuing dominance had been brewing for a few years. Recently, the Italian voiced his opinion that he and Jack Miller “built what is now the Ducati team”, but Davide Tardozzi seems to disagree.
Davide Tardozzi says the development of Ducati’s bike ‘stemmed’ from Andrea Dovizioso
In a recent appearance on the Misterhelmet podcast, Tardozzi was asked to compare three of Ducati’s most influential riders in recent years: Bagnaia, Andrea Dovizioso, and, of course, Marc Marquez.
“Three riders, three completely different people, and three different approaches, if you like,” Tardozzi began, before reiterating that Dovizioso only has himself to blame for losing out on the 2020 title to Joan Mir.
“For a start, Andrea had the misfortune of coming up against Marc Marquez. I only hold 2020 against Andrea, when he got the wrong ideas into his head – I’ve always said that, and I’ve told him so too, by the way.
“In fact, on Saturday evening I’m going to Monte Coralli for dinner at his place. At his motocross track, and if the conversation ever turns to that in front of his friends, I’ll say it again: ‘No, come on, you were the one who let 2020 slip away!’
“Having said that, he’s done an exceptional job because the development of this bike stems from Andrea Dovizioso. I still remember the first time Gigi’s bike was out at Sepang in 2015. After the first five laps he stopped and didn’t look at anyone for a moment.
“Then, he took off his helmet, looked at Gigi and said, ‘We’re there.'”
- READ MORE: Andrea Dovizioso questions how ‘deep’ Francesco Bagnaia is digging at Ducati before Aprilia move
Unfortunately for Dovizioso, he simply couldn’t get the better of Marquez over the course of a single season. The Spaniard was arguably in the prime of his career during their title fight-laden era of the late 2010s, and Dovizioso could only best Marquez on certain occasions.
“From that bike and that development came the bike that was competitive in 2016, but above all from 2017 onwards, when Andrea started finishing second in the World Championship behind none other than the phenomenal Marc Marquez,” Tardozzi concluded.
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