Davide Tardozzi: Marc Marquez ‘will win a race before 2024 MotoGP season is over’
“We understand Marc has huge potential”
Ducati boss Davide Tardozzi is adamant that Marc Marquez will win a MotoGP race “before the season is over”.
Eight-time world champion Marquez switched to Ducati machinery for 2024 when he signed a deal to race with Gresini aboard a GP23.
Marquez is currently fourth in the standings, 83 points off the lead, and has amassed nine podiums across the sprints and grands prix in the first 11 rounds of the current campaign.
However, Marquez’s 1000-day wait for another grand prix win continues, though he has come close at several races this year.
Despite not reaching the top step of the podium yet with Ducati, he has earned a factory deal for 2025 and Tardozzi is confident Marquez will win a race before the season is done.
“We are now focusing on our championship,” Tardozzi told AS.com, following Francesco Bagnaia’s triumph at the Austrian Grand Prix.
“Marc will be with us next year, but at the moment our factory riders are Pecco and Enea [Bastianini], so we expect them to do the best possible results.
“Having said that, we are not blindfolded and we understand that Marc has great potential.
“And we will enjoy him next year, but before the end of the season he will win a race.”
Tardozzi believes Marquez could have fought for the win at the Red Bull Ring last Sunday had he not been forced into a recovery ride.
The Gresini rider accidentally disengaged his front ride height device on the way to the grid as he tried to warm up his front tyre, which went onto his bike cooler than normal after a broken wheel valve forced a rim change half an hour before the start.
As he struggled off the line, he made contact with Franco Morbidelli on the run to Turn 1, which dropped him from third on the grid to 13th - though he would recover to fourth.
“I had warned that Marquez on Sunday would fight for the victory and, if we look at the second part of the race, he was the fastest on track,” Tardozzi added.
“With a good start, he could have played for the podium and maybe even the victory.”
