Ducati gets ahead of the game: the MotoGP super team for 2027 will be unveiled on January 18 in Madonna di Campiglio

The 2026 MotoGP World Championship is not over yet, but Ducati has already set a date with the future. On Monday, January 18, Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta will appear in public for the first time in the factory team's colors, during the fifth consecutive edition of Campioni in Pista in Madonna di Campiglio.

Borgo Panigale is the first premier-class team to announce when it will unveil its 2027 livery. The announcement came in a message from Ducati Corse on social media, evoking the “red team on white snow” and inviting fans to mark the date on their calendars, with more details promised in the coming weeks.

Inevitably, the invitation does not name the riders. Acosta is under contract with KTM until December 31, while Marc Marquez has renewed his contract through 2028, but it is not certain that he will not call time early once he has secured his tenth world title. We discussed it here.  It would be a sensational twist. 

The highlight of the snow-filled celebration will be the sight of the two teammates dressed in red. Pecco Bagnaia, a two-time world champion, is leaving Ducati for Aprilia, and Acosta will take his place after signing a two-year contract following three MotoGP seasons with KTM. Marquez, for his part, has already renewed with the Bologna-based manufacturer for another two years. One curious detail concerns the entire Desmosedici family: across Ducati's three teams, there will be just one Italian rider, Nicolò Bulega, the Superbike world champion joining the VR46 team.

The pair's first real encounter on track will come earlier, at the Valencia test, but, as Motosa points out, that outing has limited significance: MotoGP contracts expire on December 31, so Acosta, still bound by his commitments to KTM, will not be able to display his new team's sponsors until then. Campiglio will therefore mark the pair's official debut.

2027 ushers in a new era for MotoGP, with the switch to 850cc engines and the arrival of Pirelli as the sole tyre supplier. For that reason, major technical revelations on stage are unlikely: the bikes on display will almost certainly be preliminary versions of the prototype, as team launches are traditionally tightly guarded events. In Madonna di Campiglio, the livery will take center stage at a three-day event. Then the new season gets underway in Thailand.

Before thinking about winter, though, Marquez has a date with history. With two rounds remaining and following the Qatar GP, number 93 leads the standings by 60 points. Next weekend in Portugal, he could seal the title with a Sprint victory. It would be his eighth MotoGP title, moving him into second place on the all-time list, level with Giacomo Agostini and ahead of Valentino Rossi, as well as his tenth world title across all classes. Only Agostini, with 15, and Angel Nieto, with 13, have more.

There is another record at stake, too: no one has ever won the title after trailing by 100 points. The record belongs to Bagnaia, who clawed back a 91-point deficit to Fabio Quartararo in 2022. If Portimao goes as he hopes, Marquez will arrive on the snows of Trentino as a ten-time world champion, alongside a teammate who promises not to give him a moment's peace.

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