Why Ducati needs a heated rivalry between Marquez and Bagnaia in MotoGP 2026

The 2026 Ducati MotoGP bike is set to be even faster than its title-winning predecessor based purely on the unscientific fact that it has racing stripes on it. As an homage to its 100th anniversary, the Bologna brand has brought back its iconic white racing stripes for its 2026 Desmosedici. It’s a pretty design that made the PR drivel of its Madonna di Campiglio launch palatable.

The 19 January launch on the slopes of the Dolomites presented the first time since the disastrous Indonesian Grand Prix weekend, where both Marc Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia were present together in factory colours.

Since then, Marquez has been going through rehabilitation on the complex shoulder injury he sustained in a collision with Marco Bezzecchi at Mandalika. Earlier this month, he made his return to circuit riding as he starts to increase the level of strain on his shoulder. At present, he’s still not at 100% fitness for the start of pre-season testing on 3-5 February in Malaysia.

The 2026 season represents the final year of the current rules cycle, meaning Ducati is restricted in what changes it can make to its GP26. Davide Barana, its technical director, noted on Monday that the main focus was on improving chassis stability, changes to the ride height device and some tweaks (that the rules permit) to engine performance.

If you believe the noise, Ducati comes into 2026 with the target on its back visible for the first time in years following the conclusion of last season. Aprilia’s significant gains across the campaign and strong end to it have many predicting a much tighter championship battle.

The absence of Marquez at the end of the year, however, casts some doubt on this. Ducati’s 2025 bike wasn’t its best, but it was good enough for the 32-year-old to dominate on. With those lessons learned, it’s hard to imagine Ducati straying too closely into the hands of its enemies when racing begins on 1 March in Thailand.

Marquez has repeatedly addressed the growing threat to Ducati as something not to be totally dismissed. But he will have caused some concern on Monday when he noted that his motivation after winning the title in 2025 is only higher this time around.

Inevitably, talk of the future was not far away on Monday. This year is also the last for most on their current contracts. Marquez is a major piece of the 2027 rider market, but is expected to stay put with Ducati into the new rules era.

“Of course, if you check my career, if I’m in a team where I feel good, and I’m fast, and everything is working well, I try not to move,” he said. “So, of course, my first option is to try to be in Ducati, but step by step. Looks like every time the contracts [are signed] earlier and earlier. Of course, we are in conversations, but I need to evaluate all the things.”

Unsurprisingly, Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi was firm in his response to this line of questioning:  “First of all, we are looking to renew the world champion.”

To do so, Ducati is likely going to have to put down quite a bit more capital to secure his signature than it currently pays him. Marquez is negotiating from a position of immense strength, emboldened further by the competitive nature of the grid ahead of the rules reset and Ducati’s rivals’ desire to bag its own AAA name.

The identity of his team-mate will be the most intriguing plotline of the 2027 rider market silly season.

Acosta to Ducati rumours gather pace

A different year last season likely would have had Ducati tabling deals for both Marquez and Bagnaia as soon as possible. As it stands, it’s hard to see Bagnaia remaining in Ducati red in 2027. His struggles were not entirely of his own making in 2025, but going from 11 wins and missing the title by 10 points to just two victories and fifth in the standings is a drop-off difficult to defend.

After initial testing of the 2026 bike in Valencia last year, Bagnaia appeared to be much happier with it. But even if that translates into on-track results, his days are already looking numbered.

Speaking on Monday at Ducati’s 2026 launch event, Bagnaia’s answer about 2027 talks did not once mention Ducati.

“Honestly, I’m quite calm about it,” he said. “I just want to start the season and think about the season, because I know there will be a big regulation change, many riders are finishing their contract. So, it will be very important to have a good mentality on the championship. I’m quite calm about what will be next year.”

Over the winter, multiple reports surfaced claiming Ducati has already signed Pedro Acosta for 2027. The promising Spaniard’s second year with KTM proved wasteful, as the Austrian marque failed to provide him with a bike worthy of his talents. Whatever the future holds for KTM, it seems all but certain that those plans won’t feature Acosta.

These rumours were only intensified last week, when Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola said he expected Acosta to join Ducati alongside Marquez. Now, that is a tantalising prospect for any MotoGP fan.

Marquez is very much closer to the end of his career than the start of it, but is far from finished. Acosta, meanwhile, is seen as his heir to the throne of MotoGP domination over the next decade or so.

If Acosta donning red leathers in 2027 comes to pass, and he is paired with Marquez, tensions will likely build quickly. Acosta has made no secret of his desire to be a showman, moulded very much in the image of Valentino Rossi. He has already taken cheeky digs at Marquez - largely in jest - on Spanish television. And he knows how to stir up buzz in the media.

Ducati hasn't faced fierce intra-team battle lately

Marquez has faced some tough team-mates over the years, but there weren’t many flashpoints with Dani Pedrosa, while Jorge Lorenzo was a shadow of himself in 2019. Pol Espargaro and Joan Mir offered little challenge to him either.

Bagnaia should have been the one to really twist the screws and give Marquez something to think about. But, at the moment, he stands as just another casualty of the immense strain being Marquez’s team-mate places on you.

Acosta, on the other hand, is a completely different proposition. And, if Marquez/Acosta is to be Ducati’s 2027 line-up, the marque really needs Bagnaia to step up in a big way in 2026 so it can best prepare its crisis management.

Ducati doesn’t have a great record of managing difficult situations. The way it handled contract talks with Casey Stoner ultimately led him to sign for Honda in 2011, ushering in the beginning of the barren times for Ducati.

It managed to fumble Stoner a second time when he came back to the fold as a test rider in 2016, with the Australian quitting in 2018, having felt underutilised. The ego clash between Andrea Dovizioso and Gigi Dall’Igna led the former to depart in 2020, though this ultimately backfired on him when he couldn’t find a ride until late 2021.

Ducati’s knee-jerk response to Marquez’s threats for his 2025 ride denied it the chance to keep 2024 world champion Jorge Martin on its books. Given his injury woes last year, ifs and buts are very tenuous, but it’s hard to see how Martin on equal machinery could have been worse than

Bagnaia. Then, of course, there was how it handled Bagnaia’s situation last year.

If Marquez/Acosta is the path Ducati management is indeed choosing, it’s clearly confident it can handle the heat. However, faced with a crisis, Ducati has struggled to navigate its way through them without being burned in some way.

History has already shown us that Bagnaia and Marquez can be spiky towards each other. Their clash at the 2024 Portuguese Grand Prix, followed by their Jerez duel, is proof of this. Those were meant to be previews to what should have happened in 2025, but Ducati was spared any real intra-team tensions.

Not only would Bagnaia rebounding to battle Marquez for the title rebuild his confidence and prove 2025 was the one-off slump he hopes it was, but Ducati would benefit from sharpening its senses when faced with such heat if it does have ambitions of fielding MotoGP’s most explosive line-up in 2027…