Alex Marquez’s 2025 MotoGP success should not have come as a “surprise”, says Davide Tardozzi.

Marquez had taken only five podiums in MotoGP since he joined the premier class in 2020 by the end of the 2024 season, and was winless in the premier class, before taking three wins and second in the championship in 2025.

Marquez’s history as a World Champion in the lower classes makes his runner-up position and three grand prix wins in 2025 unsurprising to Ducati Lenovo Team manager Davide Tardozzi.

“Alex [Marquez] confirmed that he is a top rider,” said Tardozzi, speaking to MotoGP.com. 

“Alex has been already twice World Champion, so we are not talking about a surprise. 

“The Gresini team showed since the beginning with us that they are a fantastic team because they won races every year with several riders. 

“So, I think that the feeling that you smell inside the team and the professional guys that are working there, it’s something that can’t bring other than winning and fast riders.”

Marquez was not the only Gresini rider to make his mark on MotoGP in 2025, since Fermin Aldeguer was on the podium six times, including Sprints, in his rookie premier class season.

Ducati had signed Aldeguer to its MotoGP programme ahead of the 2024 season, so over a year in advance of his MotoGP debut, after he won the last four races of the 2023 Moto2 World Championship in convincing fashion.

An underperforming 2024 Moto2 season dampened expectations, somewhat, on Aldeguer, but he put in several strong performances across the season to finish eighth overall in the riders’ standings.

For Tardozzi, the performance of the Murcian rookie in 2025 was above Ducati’s expectations.

“Fermin [Aldeguer], I think he surprised us,” said Tardozzi.

“We were investing in him, signing him in January 2024, so that means that we trust him.

“But, in the end, I think he gave us back a bit more than what we were expecting from him this year.”