Valentino Rossi gave up a factory Ducati bike to Alex Marquez after he missed out on top 2026 target

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Alex Marquez will ride a factory-spec Ducati in 2026, it has been confirmed. VR46 boss Valentino Rossi played a crucial, if inadvertent, role in facilitating the move.

This season, Ducati have fielded three up-to-date bikes – one each for factory riders Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia, and one for VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio. The younger Marquez brother is riding last year’s motorcycle, along with Gresini teammate Fermin Aldeguer and Franco Morbidelli.

The plan for next year is to increase that tally to four. As the second-in-command team in the Ducati structure, Luigi Dall’Igna gave Rossi and VR46 the right of first refusal.

They have elected not to take on a second factory bike, opening the door for Gresini. Fermin Aldeguer was entitled to a GP26 next year under his contract, but Ducati have seemingly backed out of that commitment, favouring 2025 revelation and soon-to-be runner-up A. Marquez.

Valentino Rossi would have shelled out for a factory Ducati if he’d signed Pedro Acosta

In a sense, it’s surprising that Rossi would turn down a top-of-the-range motorcycle. But with Alex Marquez comfortably outperforming Bagnaia and Di Giannantonio, Ducati’s rate of improvement is in question.

‘Diggia’ will be riding a GP26 next year but Morbidelli, who recently signed a one-year contract extension, will remain a year behind. As reported by GPOne, Rossi decided it wasn’t worth the cost to equalise the two.

Motorsport Espana add that Rossi would have made the ‘financial effort’ had he signed Pedro Acosta from KTM. Acosta held talks with VR46 but there was no way out of his contract.

It’s likely that Acosta would have only joined if he was assured the same equipment as Marc Marquez. But when he proved to be out of reach, Rossi ‘dismissed the possibility’ of purchasing another GP26.

How much does an up-to-date Ducati MotoGP bike actually cost?

The difference between the GP25 and ’26 is likely to be slight, particularly given that an engine freeze is in place. It’s also the end of a rules cycle, so naturally, teams are approaching the end of a development curve.

This is especially true of a dominant outfit like Ducati. For Alex Marquez, this decision may be more significant symbolically than mechanically; it clearly puts him in the frame for a 2027 factory move if maintains or improves his current form.

Motorsport report that VR46 are required to pay around £1.7m per year for each factory bike. One can understand why Rossi decided it wasn’t worth the outlay.

Morbidelli has been watching Alex Marquez closely in the hope of making a similar leap. This will be the third time in four seasons that Gresini have outscored their Ducati satellite rivals.