Marco Bezzecchi
Gresini rider Fermin Aldeguer now faces a race against time to take part in pre-season, as he will have surgery after fracturing his femur while testing in Valencia on Thursday.
The 20-year-old joined a clutch of his fellow factory-contracted Ducati MotoGP riders at the Aspar Circuit at the test organised for Marc Marquez to make his return from injury. But the Spaniard’s crash overshadowed the event after he had to be taken to hospital by ambulance.
Gresini announced in a brief statement that Aldeguer sustained a fracture to the shaft of his left femur during the test in Valencia. He is due to travel to Barcelona this Friday to undergo surgery to repair the middle part of the bone, with his timeline to return yet to be decided.
Ducati provided Marquez with their Panigale V2 superbike for the test to appease MotoGP’s testing rules. Aldeguer is thought to have used a Yamaha R6 sport bike at the test, as Ducati did not offer him a bike as they focused on Marquez’s return following his shoulder surgery.
Who should replace Fermin Aldeguer if he misses 2026 pre-season testing?
Gresini should run Ducati’s Nicolo Bulega if Fermin Aldeguer misses the first 2026 pre-season test
Aldeguer’s injury now throws his involvement in the first official MotoGP pre-season test at Sepang on February 3-4 into jeopardy. Pedro Acosta needed seven weeks to recover from a fractured femur in 2022, which would see Aldeguer miss the entirety of pre-season testing.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Fermin Aldeguer with his rise to MotoGP and height
MotoGP also visits Buriram on February 21-22 ahead of the season-opening Thai Grand Prix on March 1. Gresini will be expected to name a replacement rider for Aldeguer if he has to miss either pre-season test, which possibly gives Gresini and Ducati a win-win opportunity.
Gresini and Ducati could agree on a deal for the Borgo Panigale brand’s World Superbike ace Nicolo Bulega to replace Aldeguer in at least the Sepang test. Bulega stood in for Marquez in the final two rounds of 2025, and he will also now act as Ducati’s MotoGP test rider in 2026.
Bulega can replace Aldeguer in MotoGP’s first pre-season test of 2026 at Sepang as it does not clash with the World Superbike Championship schedule. But he would not be able to also replace Aldeguer in the Buriram test owing to the opening round of the 2026 WSBK season.
The World Superbike Championship has its first two pre-season tests in Europe at Jerez on January 21-22 and Portimao on January 28-29. WSBK will also hold a test at Phillip Island on February 16-17, ahead of the opening race of its new season in Australia on February 20-22.
Nicolo Bulega’s experience with the Ducati GP25 could be a huge help for Fermin Aldeguer
Bulega replacing Aldeguer in the Sepang test could be a win-win opportunity for Ducati and Gresini. The 26-year-old’s experiences with a Desmosedici GP25 that the Spaniard will use in 2026 could prove very beneficial for Gresini, as they only used GP24s in the 2025 season.
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Do you agree with Toprak Razgatlioglu that Nicolo Bulega deserves a MotoGP ride?
Also, Ducati will give Gresini’s Alex Marquez a factory GP26 in 2026 as a reward for finishing second behind Marc Marquez in the 2025 standings. So, Aldeguer will not be able to rely on his teammate’s data from the Sepang test to learn the GP25, should he have to skip the test.
The GP25 was also not the easiest bike to find performance on in 2025, so Aldeguer will not want to kick off 2026 further on the back foot after fracturing his femur. Francesco Bagnaia’s failure to adapt to Ducati’s 2025 ride height device often saw the Italian lose his confidence.
Ducati can also benefit from Bulega getting more MotoGP track time by replacing Aldeguer, who the Bologna Bullets put at Gresini in 2025 on a two-year factory contract. Ducati have promised Bulega a move to MotoGP in 2027, albeit when the 850cc regulations cycle starts.
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