Ducati, Domenicali: “Marquez surprised us. Aprilia? We were worried, but now…”

Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali spoke enthusiastically to Sky about Marc Marquez’s success at Misano: “Champions know how to evolve. Marc is an extraordinary athlete, and I think he teaches us a lot because he’s changed so much over the course of his career. Back when he was racing for Honda, he said he used to cause crashes—in the sense that on Fridays and Saturdays, he was always, constantly pushing the limits. Today, he can’t afford to do that anymore because he no longer has the physical strength that used to sustain him as before.”

Domenicali highlighted another unexpected strength of the Catalan rider: “We’ve discovered a fantastic ability to work as part of a team. When he doesn’t feel comfortable in a corner, he says, ‘It’s me who isn’t doing well here, so there’s no point in adjusting the bike.’ And when he tells us something’s wrong, we know there really is a problem with the bike.”

Domenicali also spoke about their rivals, starting with Bezzecchi: “I feel bad for him; it would have been fantastic to see a duel between them on the track. Marco was incredibly strong here, and I think both of them would have given it their all right to the end, so it’s a shame.”

“Aprilia? At the start of the year, we were very concerned; Aprilia seemed to have done an extraordinary job. Today, however, the fastest Aprilia is quite far back, while we have many Ducatis up front.”