Marco Bezzecchi
Ducati have a lot on their plate this winter as they manage Marc Marquez’s MotoGP comeback, as well as attempting to get Francesco Bagnaia back on the straight and narrow.
2025 was a hugely successful but also confusing campaign for the Borgo Panigale outfit as they watched one rider dominate, and the other lose a lot of confidence and drop out of title contention completely.
Marquez knows how to manage a comeback from injury and should be ready for the season-opener, but Bagnaia’s form poses bigger questions.
Will he even get the chance to prove he belongs at Ducati post-2026 if he shows up poorly at pre-season testing? The MotoGP rider market is going to move quickly, and they can’t afford to be caught out.
Change my mind: Marc Marquez is the greatest Ducati rider of all time
Marquez has ‘no intention’ of conducting a Portimao test as part of Ducati’s World Superbike programme ahead of the new campaign. It’s not the safest of tracks to be risking an injury at.
Looking to the future, Marquez will enter negotiations with Ducati ‘soon’ for his future, but it’s widely expected that he will remain with the team that has the best bike for the next few seasons.
READ MORE: Francesco Bagnaia explains what it’s like watching Marc Marquez celebrate winning at Ducati
Marc Marquez may lose his Ducati advantage with ‘scaled-down’ bike for 2026
Although he might not be at 100% fitness, Marquez has ‘ruled out’ missing pre-season testing, and is making sure that he gets on his new bike at the first available opportunity.
Peter Bom reckons there’s a chance that his advantage over Ducati’s other riders will be smaller this year, as a result of the changes they will make to their chassis this winter.
“He will be less [hold an advantage], because everybody is on a bike that they understand, and it’s harder to make the difference,” he said on the Oxley Bom podcast.
“I think the bike that Gigi [Dall’Igna] designed for 2025 was actually brilliant, but he aimed too high, and there was only one rider [Marc Marquez] who could use all the benefits from the GP25 bike, and then he was flying away.
“So he overestimated the rest of his riders, and only one went all the way. He can’t do that twice. Gigi doesn’t like pedalling back for a rider, so he didn’t, and he had Marc, fortunately, so he didn’t need to,” Bom continued.
“Next year, it will be a scaled-down GP25, with the sharp edges of it, and then Alex and Pecco most likely will be more competitive and be a little bit closer to him. Still will not be [beating him].”
READ MORE: Marc Marquez saw Francesco Bagnaia ‘riding stiffer than ever’ during 2025 MotoGP season
Why Marc Marquez is under more pressure to perform at Ducati in 2026
Now that he’s defending a title again, Marquez has a little more responsibility on his shoulders. It’s up to him to keep his success story going.
His last title defence in 2020 was a disaster, suffering the worst crash of his career at Jerez – a year he probably would have gone on to win the title with ease.
Coming back from an injury, knowing that his rivals (Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia) of the last few seasons will be stronger, makes his task even more difficult.
After testing, he’ll know if he has an advantage and how much room for error there is. If there isn’t much, then fans could be in for an all-time season.
Marquez must be ‘held back’ to prevent himself from going overboard and pushing too hard upon his return. If his bike has deficiencies, it’s best to leave it to Ducati to fix.
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