Ducati ‘slapped in the face’ by Aprilia, but true pecking order yet to emerge

Ducati team boss Davide Tardozzi has admitted that its defeat to Aprilia in the Thailand Grand Prix felt like a “slap in the face”, but insists the true competitive order in MotoGP will only become apparent over the coming rounds.

Ducati endured one of its most challenging weekends in recent memory at Buriram, with VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio ending up as its top finisher in sixth. The result marked the end of an 88-race podium streak stretching back to the 2021 British Grand Prix.

While reigning world champion Marc Marquez remained in the hunt for a top-three result until he suffered a sudden rear tyre failure, other Ducati riders largely struggled for pace at the Thai venue. Most notably, last year’s runner-up Alex Marquez crashed out at the end of an underwhelming weekend, while factory rider Francesco Bagnaia could only salvage ninth after struggling with his rear tyre on Sunday.

Aprilia, on the other hand, delivered its most complete performance in MotoGP, with Marco Bezzecchi leading a 1-3-4-5 result for the factory.

Tardozzi believes the track characteristics played a role in determining the outcome of the Thai Grand Prix, but conceded Ducati had been comprehensively beaten by the only other Italian manufacturer on the grid.

“I would say that the track had a negative impact, but I believe that [general manager] Gigi [Dall’Igna] is absolutely on point,” he told Sky Sport in Italian. “After taking four slaps in the face, because that’s the truth, there will be tracks that will reveal the true values. 

“Apart from Brazil, which is a new track for everyone, I believe that Austin, Qatar, and Jerez will reveal the reality of the situation.”

Aprilia has emerged as the most credible threat to Ducati’s dominance in recent years, with Bezzecchi leading the Noale-based marque to new heights after joining from VR46 in 2025. 

However, coming into the new season, there were still question marks over whether Aprilia will be able to sustain a title challenge over the full season against the Desmosedici, which has historically performed well on a wide variety of tracks.

Hailing Aprilia’s ascent in MotoGP, Tardozzi said Marquez was already finding it hard to keep pace with Bezzecchi before his 2025 campaign was cut short in Indonesia.

«Well, it’s obvious that Aprilia has done a great job and that Bezzecchi is in great shape,” said the former rider. “But I think it’s been that way since the middle of last year, because let’s remember that Marc had an accident, but in previous races he always struggled to beat him. 

“That said, hats off to Aprilia, because they’ve been really strong. Then we need to work on what we’re thinking, we can’t keep anything in the drawers anymore, we have to bring out everything we’ve got, but I think Gigi is absolutely aware of that, so I would say that our duty is to put the Ducati riders back in a position to fight for the podium.»

Ducati enjoyed a strong end to pre-season testing in Buriram last month, with factory riders Marquez and Bagnaia featuring near the top of the timesheets on both a single lap and longer runs.

However, that early testing pace didn’t translate into big results in the Thailand GP, with both Aprilia and KTM’s Pedro Acosta edging out the Ducatis on Sunday.

Tardozzi admitted that the Desmosedici package wasn’t as competitive during the grand prix weekend as testing had suggested.

“All Ducati riders suffered from the change in conditions compared to the tests. The track changed, the humidity was different too, something changed and the performance of all Ducati bikes dropped a little. Obviously, this wasn’t the case for other bikes, such as Acosta’s KTM and the Aprilias. That said, it’s not an excuse, but we need to understand why it happened.”

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— The Motorsport.com Team