During the practice session at the Valencia MotoGP, Jorge Martín’s tactics of continuously following Francesco Bagnaia were criticized by Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi. Tardozzi described Martin’s behavior as “ridiculous,” likening it to the tactics sometimes employed by Marc Marquez.
Tardozzi made his opinion clear when Martín entered the pitlane and then resumed following Bagnaia. The Spaniard, who is 21 points behind in the championship race, was trying to mark Bagnaia, who had to enter Q1 due to his position. Tardozzi commented: ‘Of course he can, but it’s not that the two mark each other, only one does it’.
Acknowledging Bagnaia’s less-than-ideal performance, Tardozzi stated quoted by Eurosport: ‘Today Pecco didn’t have his best day of the year, and this is beyond doubt, but certainly not because of Martin’s marking. We simply had less today, so we went slowly’.
Tardozzi criticized the behavior, saying: ‘Then Martín’s behavior is ridiculous like Marc Marquez sometimes does. It’s okay, it can be done and it’s right. He wants to push himself to win the two races. Maybe he’ll make it, but we have to get the points we need and not think about anything else’.
He also mentioned his past criticism of Marquez for similar tactics, especially before Marquez confirmed his move to Gresini Ducati next year. The tension within Ducati was heightened by Martin’s antagonism, setting the stage for a potentially explosive showdown between the two Ducati riders during the season finale.
Tardozzi’s comments reflect the competitive nature of MotoGP and the strategic gamesmanship that often occurs between riders, especially in high-stakes situations like the championship race.