Over the last three years, Ducati, with Andrea Dovizioso, has been the main opponent of Marc Marquez who has made people believe in a high-performance Honda. Including at HRC. The latter on the sidelines, and unfortunately again for a moment, because of an injury which does not want to heal, logic would have dictated that the men of Borgo Panigale would have free rein to make a place better than usual. Or move from second to first position. Alas, the opportunity was missed, leaving Davide Tardozzi frustrated...
Davide Tardozzi is a team manager of the factory team Ducati who struggles to find satisfaction when he takes stock of the 2020 season. However, the year ended with a World Champion title among manufacturers. But Tardozzi is not fooled. He knows that the accessory fell into the hands of its manufacturer following the sanction imposed on Yamaha followed by the misfortune of Suzuki during the last Grand Prix in Portugal.
The Italian therefore remains hungry, and he leaves his boss's politically correct speech Gigi Dall'Igna to deliver another reality on this campaign which calls for a reconsideration in 2021… In an interview given to motogp.com, he declares thus: “ fourth place at the World Championship is not enough because the rider, the bike and the team could not fight for the title, as we have done in the last three years. Our biggest problem was that we didn't set the bike up on the new Michelin rear tires, which made life difficult for the riders ».
Davide Tardozzi: “this year made us think”
« Everyone expected Dovi to challenge for the world title, but he was unable to adapt his riding style to the new rear tire. He only mastered this problem in very few races », Regrets the 61-year-old executive of the official team.
A state of affairs which seems to close an era. In 2021, Dovizioso et Petrucci will no longer be in the game, while the average age in the Desmosedici box will be lowered, with Jack Miller aged 25 and a Pecco Bagnaia 23 years old. " We had no chance in the title fight, which made us think a lot about the future. We have already tested with Michele Pirro in Misano. We are working and very focused to be back on top in 2021 ».
He finishes : " we must better use our greatest strength, acceleration, in order to exhaust the engine's potential. It is also important that we improve the steering of the bike, which has been our biggest problem in recent years ". The roadmap is written.
