Ducati flashes warning to growing MotoGP rivals: ‘Gigi is starting to think again’

Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi says MotoGP’s rules “are working very good” as rival marques have closed the gap, but has warned “Gigi is starting to think again”.

Despite a rocky pre-season in which it had to shelve its full 2025-spec engine, Ducati has remained in dominant form this season - thanks largely to Marc Marquez.

The 32-year-old has won 11 grands prix and 14 sprints on the GP25 to put one hand on the 2025 title, while Pecco Bagnaia has a 12th Sunday victory for the current package at COTA.

But in recent races, Ducati has seen increased challenge from Aprilia and KTM, with Marco Bezzecchi pushing Marquez hard all the way to the chequered flag at Misano.

Speaking ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, Tardozzi told the official MotoGP channel that the brand felt confident to end 2025 development due to its early season form.

But the increased pressure it has faced from its rivals has prompted general manager Gigi Dall’Igna to “open some drawers fore something new”.

“We thought that it was good for us to stop the development on the 2025 bike because we saw in the beginning of the year that the performance was incredible,” Tardozzi said.

“But it seems that Dorna’s rules work very good, because our opponents grow a lot this year.

“Gigi is now starting to think again.

“He said it’s better that we go back to the desk and start to open some drawers for something new and start thinking about next year at the end of the year.”

Read more: Inside the nerve centre of Ducati's 2025 MotoGP domination

In a bid to close up the performance gap in MotoGP, a new concession system was brought in for 2024 which slapped Ducati with a number of restrictions while offering rivals a sliding scale of benefits depending on what ranking it fell under based on results.

For the first time in two years, three manufacturers have won grands prix, while all brands have been on the podium.

Ducati “very proud” as Marc Marquez nears 2025 title

This weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix could see Marc Marquez win his seventh premier class world title should he outscore Alex Marquez by three points by the end of the event.

Talking on this possibility, Tardozzi added: “We are very proud because we brought back such a huge champion to win and we hope that will happen.

“But the possibilities are very, very high.

“Winning here in Japan is something special, but if it’s not here in Japan, if it will be in Indonesia or wherever, the most important thing is that Marc will be world champion again.”