Marco Bezzecchi
VR46 star Fabio Di Giannantonio believes Ducati “started to lose” some of their bike’s strengths once the Borgo Panigale team started changing parts to suit Marc Marquez.
Marquez was in a different league to the rest of the Ducati riders, and the MotoGP field, last year. But Ducati have not enjoyed a strong start to the term so far in 2026, having seen their Italian rivals Aprilia emerge with the fastest bike over the first three rounds of the campaign.
While Marquez won the 2025 MotoGP title with five rounds to spare after joining the factory Ducati team, he sits only fifth in the 2026 standings ahead of this week’s Spanish Grand Prix. VR46 star Di Giannantonio in fourth place is the highest-ranked Ducati pilot in the standings.
Aprilia racer Marco Bezzecchi leads the 2026 standings through three rounds with 81 points, enough to lead his teammate Jorge Martin by four points. KTM ace Pedro Acosta ranks third with 60 points, ahead of Di Giannantonio on 50 and Marquez on 45 aboard the Ducati GP26.
Have Ducati been too reliant on Marc Marquez to develop their bike?
Fabio Di Giannantonio blames Ducati building their bike to suit Marc Marquez for their demise
The Aprilia RS-GP has emerged as the superior bike compared to the Ducati GP26, with the Noale native’s machine able to turn far better than the GP26. Ducati ace Francesco Bagnaia has struggled with excessive tyre wear in 2026, which only develops in the Grands Prix, too.
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Di Giannantonio has now pinpointed Ducati’s decision to change their development path to suit Marquez last year as the cause of the Bologna Bullets’ demise. He believes Ducati’s bid to build the Desmosedici around Marquez has actually caused them to lose their strengths.
“I think that starting last year, Ducati’s development direction has shifted toward Marquez,” Di Giannantonio said, via quotes by Motorsport.com. “Pecco and I struggle more because of our riding style, which is the opposite of Marc’s.
“If we were to go his way in terms of set-up, we would not be competitive. We wouldn’t be fast, we wouldn’t be confident on the bike, and we wouldn’t have a predictable bike.
“I think Ducati need to work on this aspect, because it’s always been a fantastic bike, with great performance, and we started to lose certain things when things were changed on the bike and went in the opposite direction.”
Despite Marquez’s dominance in 2025, as he took 11 Grand Prix wins from his 18 starts, the shoe has been on the other foot in 2026 with Ducati watching Aprilia dominate. Bezzecchi is even on a run of five consecutive Grand Prix wins, during which the Italian has led every lap.
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Bezzecchi scored the final two Grand Prix wins of 2025 and has started 2026 with a perfect record on the Aprilia RS-GP. In contrast, VR46 star Di Giannantonio has taken the only Grand Prix podium by a Ducati rider in 2026 with his P3 in Brazil, where Aprilia recorded a one-two.
Neither of the four riders using the GP26 has been happy with the bike’s performance, as well. Gresini pilot Alex Marquez believes “all” Ducati riders are having the same issues, and factory Ducati racer Bagnaia even feels he would win easily if he had a Ducati GP24 in 2026.
As well as struggling to maintain rear tyre grip through the early races in Thailand, Brazil and America, Bagnaia has “completely changed” his braking style for the Ducati GP26. The two-time champion does not feel like the GP26, nor the GP25, has allowed him to ride naturally.
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