Now, that is how you turn a championship completely on its head. Marc Marquez now sits at the top of the World Championship standings with a 10-point advantage, courtesy of a wild weekend at Phillip Island and a massive swing in the title fight.
The #93 arrived Down Under trailing by just two points, setting up an intense battle with his nearest rival, Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing). The two locked horns right from the opening laps of Saturday's Sprint. Then came Lap 8, and everything changed in an instant. Martin went down at Turn 8, picking up a non-displaced fracture of the distal radius that sidelined him for the rest of the weekend. Sunday brought another twist when the Australian GP was cancelled due to reduced visibility that grounded the medical helicopter. With the points frozen, the gap settled at 10 points heading toward Malaysia, though Martin's status for the upcoming rounds is still unconfirmed.
Davide Tardozzi admitted that the cancellation cost them a chance to stretch that margin, but was clear about the priorities. "For Ducati, it's obvious that we missed an opportunity, but in the end the first thing we are always thinking about is rider safety in Ducati. And that's ahead of everything: sport, business and whatever," Tardozzi stated. Reflecting on the Sprint battle before the crash, he added: "Martin made a mistake, but he was very, very competitive. I do not know if Marc would be able to beat him at the end of the race. I think that it was head-to-head until the end, but unfortunately, he made a mistake."
To call this 2026 campaign from Marc Marquez astonishing feels almost too mild. clawing back from 102 points down to hold a 10-point lead has taken six GP victories, four pole positions, and a brand of mature, calculated riding that looks unstoppable. Yet Tardozzi believes there is still more to come from the #93. "I think the best races from Marc are something we will see in the future. Because he always surprises us. But in the end, what I saw yesterday [Australian GP Sprint] was that Marc was managing; he was thinking," Tardozzi said. Looking ahead at the machines and the remaining tracks, he remains pragmatic: "I think that he will attack. Honestly, I think that in the next four races, there will be three races that suit Aprilia more and one that we can be faster than them. But in the end, we have Marc Marquez. And that's something that relaxes us."
As for who poses the biggest threat from Aprilia Racing over the final four rounds, Tardozzi isn't entirely sure yet, keeping a close eye on Jorge's physical recovery while also watching Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing), who is lurking just 50 points back and cannot be dismissed.
Tardozzi summed up the danger of the chasing pack clearly: "It depends on Jorge's situation, because I have a huge respect for Marco. And again, I think that 50 points are nothing. I think that Marco has the potential to win every race from now until the end. On Jorge's side, it's obvious that his injury will make the difference, positive or negative. If he can be very competitive, that means not winning, because I don't think that he will be able to win in Sepang. For sure, Sepang and Qatar will tell us about his competitiveness."
