Eight motorcycles, four teams. Ducati remains the most represented manufacturer in the MotoGP field, with twice as many bikes as any other rival. This situation brings advantages from a development point of view, with a wide range of opinions and placement of young talents… but paradoxically, it can also be a disadvantage in managing the riders.
Francesco Bagnaia has been the strongest in recent seasons, as evidenced by his two titles. However, practically all the other Ducati riders from 2024 have shown themselves capable of winning as well. And a motorcycle doesn’t race alone, no matter how good it is, so there is always merit for the rider in surpassing the opponents. Especially considering that, even within the Ducati “universe,” riders with bikes from the previous year’s specifications have been able to outperform factory riders, as happened in 2023 – the victories of Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Di Giannantonio are the best examples.
In 2024, the Ducati lineup is truly impressive. Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini remain in the factory team. Jorge Martín, last year’s vice champion, continues in Pramac and has alongside him the 2020 vice champion, Franco Morbidelli. These are the four riders with the most recent version of the Desmosedici in their hands.
Then, Gresini will have the six-time champion of the premier class, Marc Márquez, and his brother Álex – who has already shown potential to fight for podiums and victories. The same goes for the duo from the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Marco Bezzecchi. The four will have the Desmosedici GP23 from last year.
Common to the eight riders is that they are at the end of their contracts. If Bagnaia’s continuity in the factory team seems only a matter of time until it is confirmed, there are uncertainties about his teammate in 2025. And the saying “seven dogs to one bone” can apply almost literally: there will be seven riders aspiring to that place in the Ducati Lenovo Team.
Martín has already said that either he is promoted to the factory team or he will seek options with another manufacturer. Marc Márquez has signed only for one year with Gresini and, if he is fighting for top positions, it is not difficult to imagine that he has little desire to be in a satellite team again – at the same time, he is a natural target of desire for other manufacturers.
Morbidelli has also been in a factory team before and may want to regain that status if he demonstrates in Pramac the potential he has already shown in the past. Bezzecchi chose to stay in VR46 after finishing third in 2023, but he may also feel that, to truly fight for the title, he will have to make the leap to Ducati.
And Bastianini? After a 2023 marked by injuries, he has already shown that he has the arguments to fight at the top, as he proved with the victory in Malaysia. Keeping the rider without being in the official team could be complicated for the Borgo Panigale manufacturer, since placing him in a satellite team could always be seen as a demotion.
At the same time, it is speculated that Fermín Aldeguer has signed with Ducati to be promoted to MotoGP in a satellite team. Whether true or not, it is certain that the manufacturer faces a very complicated year in terms of contracts. Not all current eight riders are under direct contract (Marc Márquez, for example, is linked to Gresini), and ensuring the continuity of all seems like a very difficult task.
There will always be some teams better classified in the championship than others, but it may very well happen that the level of performance of all is so comparable that it becomes difficult to consider someone as clearly dispensable compared to others – or, on the other hand, to consider someone as a stronger candidate for one of the two places in the factory team.
A scenario that may become more complicated if Ducati loses any of its current satellite teams to another manufacturer. VR46 has been linked to a future with KTM or Yamaha, although their team director Uccio Salucci shows willingness to quickly renew with Ducati. Prima Pramac and Gresini do not seem at risk of changing in the short term. In any case, difficult decisions lie ahead for Ducati in terms of riders, having to consider ideal solutions and most likely having to accept the fact of losing at least one talent to a rival manufacturer.
