Overview
- Marc Marquez re-signed with factory Ducati on Tuesday to remain with the team through the end of the 2028 season.
- Ducati confirmed on Wednesday that two-time champion Francesco Bagnaia will leave the factory team at the end of 2026 and will race his final Ducati at the Valencia Grand Prix.
- Also announced on Wednesday, Pedro Acosta has signed a two-year deal to join Ducati for the 2027 and 2028 seasons to partner Marquez.
- The sequence of announcements followed the recent settlement of MotoGP's manufacturers' commercial agreement and has started a domino of moves that reports say will put Bagnaia at Aprilia and force KTM to reconfigure its factory roster.
- Ducati says the pairing of an established title winner with a young prospect is meant to guide bike development into the new 850cc era with Pirelli tyres and to plan for Marquez's eventual succession while changing the human and technical balance across rival teams.