Ducati risk MotoGP rivals closing gap but hold Marquez trump card

Ducatis highly-acclaimed 2024 bike was so good that they are going ahead with the same engine this season, a bold strategy that may allow rivals to close the gap but the factory team now has two MotoGP champions on board.

With Marc Marquez now donning Ducati factory red alongside twice champion Francesco Bagnaia, the team have a wealth of winning experience in the eight MotoGP titles between the two riders.

Upon realising that the newly-developed GP25 bike failed to meet performance standards, Ducati chose to rely on the proven prowess of the GP24 machine and harness the power of its engine for the next two years with specifications frozen until 2026.

The engine for the 2025 and 2026 season will be the 24. I think that 2024 bikes are very difficult to improve, Ducatis race team manager Davide Tardozzi said when making an honest assessment of their machines during pre-season testing.

The bike is very much an evolved version of the 2024 bike which Bagnaia dubbed the GP24.9 - a name that has stuck.

There is an element of risk with Ducati standing still with their development that could allow their rivals to regain lost ground.

But what the grid saw in 2024 was the Italian team setting such high benchmarks, with a superior level of craftsmanship and the use of technology, that they almost built the perfect racing machine.

Such was their dominance last year that a Ducati bike won 19 of the 20 races while six different riders achieved 53 podiums, as they sealed the constructors title with six rounds to spare.

HUNGRY MARQUEZ

With very marginal gains expected in engine development before new bikes are introduced in 2027, Tardozzi said he was absolutely confident their riders would be competitive and vie for the championship.

Marquez is also