Remember when MotoGP was – derisively, yet with justification – called the ‘Ducati Cup’?
Davide Tardozzi did, which is why the crack Ducati factory team’s boss and an open microphone in the aftermath of the season-opening Thailand Grand Prix made for compelling listening.
Tardozzi – whose jubilant celebrations when Ducati win makes him a social media sensation and instantly meme-worthy – wears his heart on his sleeve at any time. On the rare occasions when Ducati gets humbled, as it did in Buriram, even more so.
“[We took] four slaps in the face … that’s the truth,” Tardozzi told Sky Italia after Ducati’s run of 88 Grands Prix with at least one rider on the podium which dated to the 2021 British Grand Prix was snapped, and Ducati endured its worst start to a season since 2013.
“We need to put the riders in a position to fight for the podium again. We’re getting to the tracks that will reveal the true [order]: Austin, Qatar and Jerez.”
