Francesco Bagnaia shares his one ‘hope’ after Ducati gave Alex Marquez a factory bike for 2026

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Francesco Bagnaia and Fabio Di Giannantonio have reacted to Ducati announcing that Gresini rider Alex Marquez will get a factory Desmosedici in the 2026 MotoGP season.

The Borgo Panigale brand have opted to reward Marquez with a factory-spec bike next year as a reward for his incredible form this season. Despite having a year-old Desmosedici GP24, the Gresini pilot sits second in the riders’ standings with 330 points from the first 16 rounds.

Marquez’s GP26 will mark a change in approach for Ducati, who currently only field factory-spec bikes for three of their four factory-contract riders in the 2025 MotoGP season. Gresini rookie Fermin Aldeguer is the only factory-contracted Ducati ace not currently using a GP25.

Factory team rider Bagnaia has struggled to adapt to the Ducati GP25 throughout 2025 and sits third in the standings on 237 points ahead of this week’s Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi. VR46 racer Di Giannantonio also has a GP25 but is seventh in the standings with 179 points.

Francesco Bagnaia ‘hopes’ Alex Marquez’s 2026 factory Ducati will help him bounce back

Only Marc Marquez has managed to master the GP25 in his first season in the factory Ducati team. The 32-year-old has scored 512 points, taken 11 Grand Prix wins and also stood on 14 podiums to date. Marquez can win the 2025 MotoGP title in Japan with five rounds to spare.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Alex Marquez from net worth to career stats

Alex Marquez has scored the second-most wins in 2025 with two, ahead of Bagnaia, Johann Zarco of LCR Honda and Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi with one each. So, Ducati will give Gresini rider Marquez a factory bike in 2026, which Bagnaia believes can even be a benefit for him.

With four factory-spec Ducatis on the 2026 MotoGP grid, Bagnaia “hopes” to use the extra data that Marquez will now provide to bounce back from his miserable 2025 campaign. He has only made seven Grand Prix rostrums in 2025 and made zero over the past five rounds.

Bagnaia told the MotoGP website: “Absolutely, [having an extra rider on a factory Ducati will help develop the bike in 2026]. It’s true that one thing is that I still haven’t found a solution to be competitive on this bike. So, I hope that [Ducati having] one more rider can help.”

Fabio Di Giannantonio is adamant that Alex Marquez’s 2026 factory Ducati ‘doesn’t change anything’ for him

Ducati chose to give Marquez a factory 2026 bike over Aldeguer, despite the Gresini rookie’s works contract with the Bologna Bullets making him the expected favourite to get a factory-spec bike next term. Marquez is only under contract to Gresini through the 2026 campaign.

Also, VR46 gave up the chance to field two factory-spec Ducatis in 2026, which would have seen Franco Morbidelli join Di Giannantonio on a GP26 next year. But Marquez’s GP26 will not change Di Giannantonio’s situation, and he also hopes to use it as a chance to improve.

Di Giannantonio told MotoGP’s website: “No, [nothing changes for me]. I have the contract with Ducati. I did it last year, we signed a two-year deal. So, it doesn’t change anything for me. I’m happy for him, but it doesn’t change anything for me.

“For sure, other information for the development [of the bike will help]. He’s also a strong rider, so it’s always helpful. I always encourage to have a strong rider on the same bike as me, as I can learn and improve as much as I can.”