Ducati 'can't rely on Marquez' says team boss Tardozzi after Brazilian GP

Marquez, who won the sprint race on Saturday in relatively convincing fashion, struggled to keep in touch with the dominant Aprilias of Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin, instead having to battle for 3rd place with Di Giannantonio.

It was an improvement on Ducati's disastrous Thai Grand Prix in the opening round, but still far from ideal as the Aprilia's ended up taking three of the top five spots at the end of the race.

While the fact that it was a new circuit and track conditions was nothing short of disastrous, with a sinkhole even opening up at one point along the start-finish straight, we still didn't get a proper measure of just how much the Aprilia's have improved.

One thing is for certain though, Ducati have been put on notice as their place at the top of MotoGP appears to be under serious threat. Ducati team boss Davide Tardozzi has called on his other riders to step up to the challenge, rather than leave it all up to Marquez.

"Right now, we also have Marc, who isn’t 100% physically, though that’s no excuse since the other Ducatis are also behind," He said, "We can’t always rely on Marc’s talent to make up for our shortcomings."

He then went on to praise the phenomenal mindset of the reigning world champion, perhaps casting a little bit of shade in the direction of Bagnaia, who has famously struggled to adapt mentally to the arrival of Marquez in the team.

"Marc isn't at 100%, but like all great champions, he doesn't dwell on it and just works hard to try to bring home the best possible results."