Ducati: Winning “part of our DNA” as Marquez-Bagnaia move above Rossi-Hayden MotoGP title count
Gigi Dall’Igna plays down pressure as Ducati's Marc Marquez-Francesco Bagnaia line-up becomes the most decorated in modern MotoGP history.
Marc Marquez’s 2025 MotoGP World Championship victory also means Ducati heads into the new season fielding its most successful rider pairing ever in terms of premier-class titles.
Marc Marquez (seven) and team-mate Francesco Bagnaia (two) now hold a combined total of nine MotoGP titles between them.
That surpasses Ducati’s 2011–2012 factory line-up of Valentino Rossi (seven) and Nicky Hayden (one), as well as the 2019 Repsol Honda 'dream team' of Marquez (then on five) and Jorge Lorenzo (three).
Asked during Monday’s team launch if such an illustrious rider pairing increases pressure, Ducati Corse general manager Gigi Dall’Igna replied:
“No. Honestly speaking, it's fantastic to have such great champions in our team.
“They’ve won a lot, they won 13 [GP] races last year, plus 16 sprints and 23 podiums. So they know exactly what they have to do in order to achieve our target, and it's wonderful.”
Ducati will be chasing a seventh consecutive MotoGP manufacturers’ title and a sixth riders’ crown this season.
“They are two Champions, different but both Champions,” Dall’Igna said of Marquez and Bagnaia, who finished first and fifth respectively in last year’s standings.
“Marc has proven himself to be a champion capable of overcoming all adversity to find peace, victory, and speed.
“Pecco struggled, but he never gave up and put his talent to the test, demonstrating that he can return to being a true protagonist.”
But Dall’Igna stressed that the hunger for success isn’t limited to the riders.
“We love winning,” he said. “The riders, technicians, mechanics, the women and the men of Ducati Corse love to win races. I think it's a part of our DNA.”
Among the challenges facing MotoGP manufacturers this season is the need to develop two projects in parallel, with factories also preparing new 850cc machinery for 2027.
“This new season, it's a little bit different than the others, because we have two projects in parallel,” Dall’Igna explained.
“For sure we have the 2026 bike that is important for this season, but we have also the 2027 machine, when the rules completely change. It's really difficult for us to work on two projects at the same time.”
Marquez will begin his title defence when he returns to the Desmosedici for the first time since shoulder injuries at Mandalika, during the Sepang test on February 3–5.
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Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.