Ducati hierarchy flipped: Bagnaia the No. 2 rider, contract renewal in doubt

The 2026 season will be Bagnaia’s sixth with the official Ducati team, after starting his MotoGP career with the Pramac satellite squad. The Piedmontese rider brought two world titles to Borgo Panigale, came close to a third in 2024, but in 2025 he experienced a downward trend. With Marc Marquez present in the garage, Pecco slipped into the background. It’s a situation he will have to accept and try to overturn. Otherwise, he’ll have to change...

Pecco Bagnaia’s new path will begin with the MotoGP test in Sepang, scheduled from February 3 to 5. These will be three crucial days to find the feeling with the Desmosedici GP26, a bike not very different from the GP25 with which he struggled greatly last season. "Testing will be very important. This year I’ll try to do more laps, to focus more on performance. Fortunately, there are fewer new features [on the bike] compared to the past, because it’s the last year of these technical regulations. It will be important to find a good base, a good performance level, and try to maintain it throughout the championship."

Bagnaia wants to put 2025 behind him, which is essential for looking at 2026 with optimism. He took some time to reflect: "As soon as the championship (2025) ended, I tried to relax a bit and went on vacation with my wife. Then I had enough time to train, reflect on what I got wrong last year, think about my mistakes and what I can improve. I think it was very useful. Usually, in these difficult moments you can learn a lot, and that’s what I’m trying to do."

To rediscover the good old feelings with the Ducati, he will try to lean on Marquez. "Marc will be the benchmark; I’ll try to steal a few secrets from him." And for 2026, he hopes to "fight higher up than last year and make life more difficult for Marquez."

From now until the start of the World Championship, there will be another issue to resolve: the contract. For now, Ducati has focused on Marc Marquez, whose renewal is now a certainty. With Pecco, there will be a wait... "When you have the reigning world champion in the team, keeping him is the most important thing," admitted CEO Claudio Domenicali. The priority is clear: "We’ll start with the champion and then focus on the second rider." A possible arrival of Pedro Acosta in the factory team is to be ruled out. The Spaniard will have to go through a satellite team first, most likely VR46. Otherwise, he will have to opt for another manufacturer...

The first outings on track will be crucial for Bagnaia. The two-time MotoGP champion will be required to improve his performance, as Ducati cannot afford to operate at two different speeds. A prestigious brand needs two lead riders. Pecco and Ducati will try to buy time, but the rider market has other needs... "I just want to focus on riding, and then we’ll see what happens. We’ll take it race by race, and then we’ll start talking about the future."