Is Alex Marquez set for a factory Ducati bike upgrade for MotoGP 2026?

Ducati admits it is “thinking about” providing Alex Marquez with a factory-spec bike for the 2026 MotoGP season.

Gresini Racing’s Alex Marquez has always ridden year-old Ducati bikes since joining the Italian team for the 2023 season.

With Pramac ending its factory ties with Ducati at the end of 2024, works support shifted to the VR46 squad - but only for Fabio Di Giannantonio’s side of the garage.

But after the first half of the season, Alex Marquez has been the best of the satellite Ducati riders, winning a grand prix at Jerez and a sprint at Silverstone, with consistent podium results keeping him second in the championship.

Speaking on Friday at the Austrian Grand Prix, Alex Marquez said he is now having to “survive” on the GP24 as updates from Ducati have slowed and rival manufacturers have caught up.

Sky Italy also published an interview with VR46’s Uccio Salucci, who said: “We talked to [Gigi] Dall’Igna and [Mauro] Grassilli.

“They had proposed to us to have both official motorcycles in 2026. We reasoned and decided to stay like this [with] one full factory bike and the other not.”

Asked on Saturday at the Austrian Grand Prix about the possibility of expanding its factory bike offering in 2026 to upgrade Alex Marquez’s machinery, Ducati team boss Mauro Grassilli said:  “We are still working on it. We don’t know yet how many official bikes there will be next year.

“But we are working on it and maybe in the next month, the next few weeks, we will decide and we will tell you how many bikes we will have next year.

“They [Gresini] are doing a very good job, Gresini and Alex as well, also [Fermin] Aldeguer is doing very well. But for the bikes it’s a different story.”

Engine development for the 2026 season for manufacturers not ranked D in the concessions standings has been frozen, which in theory should make it easier for Ducati to produce a fourth factory bike.

But Grassilli says there are a number of factors to consider before it commits.

“There are a lot of topics we have to understand and analyse,” he added.

“It’s not only about engine or the economic stuff. It’s about everything. We are thinking about it.”