Marco Bezzecchi
Ducati had the grace to announce Francesco Bagnaia’s exit before confirming the arrival of Pedro Acosta on Wednesday.
It was a short turnaround – there were just two hours between the statements – but it was the right way to handle a delicate solution.
Unfortunately, this hasn’t been the case throughout the process. Indeed, Ducati signed Acosta in December, effectively denying Bagnaia a chance to redeem himself in 2026.
Who will regret this split more, Francesco Bagnaia or Ducati?
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“Pedro represents the ideal candidate for the future of the Ducati Lenovo Team,” Luigi Dall’Igna’s contribution to the announcement read. “After Marc’s confirmation, we wanted to add a young and fast rider to the Desmosedici GP development project.
“Pedro, in addition to being an undisputed talent, has demonstrated extraordinary precocity. In just under six years in the Championship, he has won two titles in the lower classes and achieved truly convincing performances in MotoGP.
“His arrival in the Team will be a stimulus for everyone; he will help us grow, and we will support him on the path to full maturity as a rider.
“I am confident that, with the encouragement of our Team and given the right amount of time, his contribution, for sure, will ensure a further step forward in terms of performance and goals.”
Do you agree with Pedro Acosta’s verdict on Francesco Bagnaia losing to Marc Marquez at Ducati?
Much of this was standard, rider-announcement PR speak, but one line stood out: ‘his arrival in the team will be a stimulus for everyone’.
While it is perhaps a cynical reading, the implication is that things had gone a little stale in Bagnaia’s half of the Ducati camp and that only one rider is truly pushing the team forward.
Bagnaia’s results last season, far below expectations, effectively set team and rider against one another, which was unthinkable during his 2022-23 heyday. There was never an explosive fallout, but the two-time MotoGP champion primarily put his slump down to mechanical changes that Dall’Igna denied making.
In his own statement, Bagnaia acknowledged that ‘last season it was difficult to see eye-to-eye; we clashed more than we would have liked, and something began to change’.
Bagnaia remains the only rider to win multiple titles with Ducati, so it was surprising to see the lack of patience afforded him. Ultimately, teams are guided by results and the comparison to Marquez is instructive, but this remains one of the most ruthless calls in recent MotoGP history.
The excitement over Acosta, while understandable, has perhaps unduly outshone Bagnaia’s contribution to Ducati’s dominance.
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