Ducati dismiss Francesco Bagnaia, Fabio di Giannantonio MotoGP swap rumour

Ducati sporting director Mauro Grassilli has dismissed speculation that Francesco Bagnaia might swap places with VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio for MotoGP 2026.

Since a perfect weekend at Motegi, where he appeared to make a breakthrough on older Ducati parts, Bagnaia has failed to score a point and now slipped to fourth in the world championship.

di Giannantonio, riding a GP25 at VR46, on a factory contract, is sixth in the standings, finishing runner-up last Sunday in Phillip Island.

"The situation is very clear. Pecco is a Ducati rider and will race with the factory team next year too,” Grassilli told Sky Italia.

“Diggia is a factory rider who races with our Factory Supported team, VR46, and that will be the case next year too.

“We started a project with VR last year, and Diggia will be 100% confirmed with VR46."

Meanwhile, Grassilli also confirmed that Ducati’s WorldSBK star Nicolo Bulega could be seen on Marc Marquez’s factory machine for the final two rounds.

“He'll test the MotoGP bike on October 31st and then we'll decide together whether he'll race in Portimao. The idea is to have him race in Portugal and Valencia, but first we need to test."

In terms of a timeline for Marquez’s recovery from shoulder surgery, Grassilli explained:

“There are these four weeks where he must be absolutely immobilised. After that, there will be another week for physical recovery, for the various treatments he needs.

“Then, like every athlete does, he will have to start training: he will do it with the [Panigale] V4 and V2 to be 100% ready, hopefully, by the beginning of next year, in early January."

The official Sepang MotoGP test then takes place in early February, 2026.