Ducati confirms VR46 status after Alex Marquez's factory upgrade

Alex Marquez’s promotion to factory-spec machinery at Gresini for 2026 will not come at the expense of Fabio di Giannantonio or VR46’s position within Ducati.

Ducati and VR46 have confirmed to Crash.net that Valentino Rossi's team will retain its status as the manufacturer's ‘Factory Supported Team’, with di Giannantonio continuing to receive a factory-spec bike.

That means Ducati will field four riders on its latest machinery next season: Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia at the Ducati Lenovo squad, plus Alex Marquez at Gresini and di Giannantonio at VR46.

Franco Morbidelli (VR46) and Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini) will therefore continue to ride satellite-spec machines.

Engine freeze, mixed specs

With MotoGP’s new 850cc era beginning in 2027, engine development is frozen from the start of this season until the end of 2026. During that time, the concession rules mean Ducati, Aprilia and KTM must keep the same homologated engine specifications.

Unlike Aprilia and KTM, which have homologated a single engine spec across all their entries, Ducati - whose six machines are more than any other manufacturer - has homologated both GP24 and GP25 engines, allowing it to mix specifications between riders in satellite teams.

However, that freedom does not apply to a factory team, with the rules stating: “Each manufacturer must nominate one team as its Factory Team and each rider in that team must use the same approved engine specification.”

In other words, Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia must use the same engine spec. So the only way Bagnaia - for example - would be able to step back to a GP24 engine in 2026, is if Marquez also switched to that engine.

Instead, the ‘GP26’ to be raced by Ducati’s four factory-spec riders is set to feature the GP25 engine, with 2026 chassis and aero upgrades. 

The satellite GP24 riders can also receive chassis, aero and other non-homologated updates if compatible with their older-spec engine.