Ducati-VR46, time to take stock: Tardozzi gives top marks to Gresini

Ducati has closed the season with the MotoGP riders’ title in the trophy cabinet for the fourth year in a row. After Pecco Bagnaia’s two-year reign and outgoing champion Jorge Martin’s triumph in 2024, this year it was Marc Marquez’s turn to fly the flag for the brand from Emilia. In 2025 the Borgo Panigale factory captured the Triple Crown, with the only sour note being Bagnaia’s great difficulties with the Desmosedici GP25. Team manager Davide Tardozzi offers an overall end-of-championship assessment.

Ducati knew perfectly well that signing Marc Marquez would stamp a guarantee on its future. The Spaniard sealed the ninth world title of his career, clinching the championship well in advance. "We are very proud because what Marc did was fantastic," Tardozzi told MotoGP.com. "Winning the championship and achieving the Triple Crown is something that makes us truly proud of our engineers, our mechanics and, above all, our rider... I think his humanity, the way he leads his crew, his engineer and his mechanic, is something I honestly had never seen before."

In the other side of the garage looms the shadow of Pecco Bagnaia, with only two victories in 2025 and many weekends to forget. "He had a good start to the season, and in some respects he even had an incredible race in Japan. But we had issues in other races that prevented him from expressing his full potential. So, in the end, we have a positive balance because we won everything, but we are also paying close attention to what isn’t working well." Despite the efforts of Gigi Dall’Igna and his team, the Piedmontese rider never found the right feeling with the bike. "We’re looking ahead and working with him to try to have a completely different 2026."

The true revelation of this MotoGP 25 season is Alex Marquez, 2nd in the final standings, and at points during the season he even gave his brother Marc a hard time. "Yes, Alex confirms he’s a top rider," continued Davide Tardozzi. "He’s already been a two-time world champion, so we’re not talking about a surprise. The Gresini team has shown from the start with us that they are a fantastic squad, competing every year with different riders... I think (Alex) gave us a bit more than we expected from him this year."

VR46 remains Ducati’s leading satellite team, but it somewhat fell short of expectations in the latest MotoGP season. "We care about them and they’ve demonstrated their professionalism. But for some reason, Frankie and Diggia did not perform as they should have over the season. They had ups and downs, and that doesn’t give the team the recognition it deserves."