Alex Marquez will encounter twice the workload in 2026 when he receives a factory Ducati bike, marking a significant step up in his MotoGP career. The Gresini rider, currently second in the 2025 championship standings, views this new challenge as an excellent opportunity to advance both his performance and the team’s results.
Upcoming Transition to Factory Ducati Machinery
Throughout this season, Marquez has achieved two victories riding a year-old Ducati model and consistently ranked just behind his brother, Marc Marquez, as one of the fastest riders on Ducati bikes. For the 2026 season, Ducati will supply him with a factory-spec GP26 bike, increasing the number of factory Ducati riders on the grid to four, including Fabio Di Giannantonio, who has a works machine at VR46.
Marquez acknowledges that this upgrade rewards the efforts shown by Gresini since its partnership with Ducati began in 2022. He expressed pride in the team’s accomplishments and credited them with earning this advancement.
Marquez Credits Team and Ducati Leadership
Speaking ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, Alex Marquez shared his gratitude for the team’s support and Ducati’s recognition:
“Super happy for me, super happy especially for the team,”
he said.
He highlighted the consistent success the Gresini-Ducati collaboration has delivered, noting their capacity to secure race wins each year. Marquez also emphasized the role his recent results played in securing the factory bike for 2026 and acknowledged the significant backing from Nadia Padovan, the team owner.
He further thanked Gigi Dall’Igna, Ducati’s Technical Director, for making the factory bike opportunity possible.
“I think they deserve it. I think if you look at the history for Ducati with Gresini, they did an amazing job every year. Every year they get some wins in the races. So, they deserve it. This year my results also helped to have that bike for next year. Nadia [Padovan, team owner] helped me a lot and she was also pushing a lot to have that factory bike. So, thanks to Ducati and to Gigi [Dall’Igna] especially because he made this real.”
Preparing for Increased Demands in 2026
Marquez explained how adapting to the new factory bike will require a different approach during pre-season testing, with more variables to explore.
He said that 2025 testing involved primarily extracting the bike’s current performance, but next year will involve developing and experimenting with new components, effectively doubling the workload.
“We have all the material to make a good job in 2026 but first of all we have to finish this season in a good way.”
Marquez expressed enthusiasm for the testing phase as he enjoys working on bike improvements and contributing to Ducati’s development efforts.
“For sure, it will change a little bit our approach during all the tests. We will have more things to try, more things to work on. So, we will have double the work. This year the tests were super easy. We were just trying to extract the performance, not trying pieces and all that. But that work I like, to try things, to help Ducati to improve.”
He concluded by sharing his optimistic view of the new challenge, focusing on maximizing the potential of the factory bike for both himself and the team.
“It will be a really good opportunity for me and the team, and we will try to extract the potential from that.”
