Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia will leave Ducati at the end of 2026 and join Aprilia, but he can go to Noale with his head held high if he stops losing the lead in races once out in front.
Two-time MotoGP champion Bagnaia has endured another frustrating season with Ducati in 2026 at the midway stage of the campaign. The 29-year-old sits just eighth in the standings through 11 of the 22 rounds, having secured 143 points and made four Grand Prix podiums.
Bagnaia is still waiting for his first Grand Prix win this term, too, with all four of his rostrums coming from finishing P3 in Barcelona, Mugello, Balaton Park and Brno. The Italian has also taken four Sprint podiums including one victory after he dominated the Sprint Race at Brno.
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Whatever Bagnaia produced during the 2026 season would not have saved his ride in Borgo Panigale, though, as Ducati have signed Pedro Acosta of KTM to partner with Marc Marquez from 2027. So, after losing his ride at Ducati, Bagnaia will join Aprilia on a four-year contract.
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Aprilia will actually welcome the rider who has led the third-most laps in the 2026 season so far, too, as Bagnaia has led the field across 44 laps this year. Only his 2027 Aprilia partner Marco Bezzecchi with 105 and current Ducati partner Marquez with 100 have led more laps.
Despite his troubled start to the season, Bagnaia enjoyed an early high after taking P2 in the Sprint Race at the United States Grand Prix. It even looked like Bagnaia would win the Sprint at COTA in March, but Aprilia rival Jorge Martin beat the Italian to the victory on the last lap.
Martin overtook Bagnaia to win the COTA Sprint under braking for Turn 12 at the end of the back straight. The 2024 champion got the better of his former title rival after opting to start the Sprint on the medium rear Michelin tyre, whereas Bagnaia had opted to fit the soft rear.
The pair’s respective tyre decisions for the COTA Sprint cost Bagnaia a win, after he led from the very start of the 10-lap dash in Texas until the final third of the final lap. Bagnaia did not lead another lap until the Italian Grand Prix, where his tyre management limited him again.
Bagnaia took the lead in the Italian GP away from Bezzecchi thanks to the sheer grunt of his Ducati GP26 down Mugello’s pit straight on Lap 3 of 23. But he failed to retain the lead from his compatriot, and he eventually succumbed to the Aprilia rider for the last time on Lap 14.
Trackhouse star Ai Ogura even came within a corner of taking third place away from Bagnaia at Mugello, but he could not make the overtake stick. Ultimately, Bagnaia edged Ogura to P3 in the Italian GP by a mere 0.034 seconds, and he finished the race 5.098s from Bezzecchi.
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Once again, another wait to lead a lap followed until Bagnaia won the Sprint Race at Brno in dominant fashion. He led every lap of the Sprint at the Czech Grand Prix and even used that as momentum for the feature race until Marquez and Ogura came through and pulled away.
Bagnaia took the lead of the Czech GP away from Ogura on Lap 2, and the Italian held onto it until Lap 16 when Marquez sensed his chance to strike as his Ducati teammate started to fade. He ultimately finished the race 2.255s down on Marquez, who beat Ogura by 0.421s.
Frequently throughout the season, Bagnaia has lamented his lack of rear grip on the Ducati GP26, and it has emerged since the start of the summer break that he was also carrying an injury. Bagnaia has had a successful operation on his right forearm, which may explain why he and Ducati have largely been reluctant to detail the “braking problem” he has often had.
Now that Bagnaia is, hopefully, injury-free, he will hope to return to competing for the lead of races, both in Sprints and Grands Prix. But Bagnaia also has to sort out his grip problems to keep the lead in the races that he does lead to then leave Ducati with his head held high.
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