From the very start of the 2025 MotoGP season, when Alex Marquez strung together three consecutive second-place finishes in Thailand, Argentina and the United States, one question followed him everywhere: ‘Would he receive upgrades on his GP24?’
The younger Marquez’s answer was always the same, as the contract between Ducati and his team Gresini Racing did not stipulate any upgrades. “If an upgrade for the 2024 bike arrives, it will come for everyone at the same time,” he said, in reference to himself, team-mate Fermin Aldeguer and VR46’s Franco Morbidelli, all of whom were riding year-old machinery.
Those upgrades never came, aside from a minor tweak very late in the season.
Despite riding old equipment and lacking factory rider status, Marquez continued to prove that his strong early results were no fluke, claiming his first premier class victory at the Spanish GP – the fifth stop on the calendar – to take the lead of the world championship at that moment, one point ahead of his elder brother Marc Marquez.
It would not be his last win. Alex Marquez also triumphed in Barcelona and Malaysia and, above all, delivered the consistency that kept him second in the standings throughout the year. Even when he hit a rough patch after picking up an injury at Assen when he collided with Pedro Acosta, had another crash in Brno and recorded his two worst results of the year in Austria and Hungary while still nursing the injury, he held on to second position in the standings.
Later in the year, Marquez recovered and reached his best level again, taking two wins and five podiums in the last seven races of the year – enough to secure the runner-up position.
“Alex Marquez recorded an important evolution that placed him among the absolute protagonists, undoubtedly deserving the official bike for next season,” Ducati’s racing chief Gigi Dall’Igna wrote in his annual season summary.
Marc Marquez, Ducati Team, Alex Marquez, Gresini Team
Photo by: Vertical
A bike like Marc Marquez’s
While it is true that Ducati was bound by an agreement with VR46, which had priority over a second full-factory GP26 for 2026, the high cost of running two latest-spec machines, combined with Morbidelli’s inconsistency, led Valentino Rossi’s team to decline the second bike. Ducati immediately saw this as an opportunity to reward Marquez’s great season, even if Gresini ultimately had to agree to increase its financial contribution to secure that GP26.
In this way, Alex Marquez will ride an identical bike to factory Ducati duo Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia, as well as VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio.
“As far as rider status goes, it won’t change much,” Ducati sources told Motorsport.com. “Alex remains a rider under contract with a private team, Gresini, but he will have a bike and equipment identical to the factory riders. On a human level, nothing will change – he will have his technical crew and the same Ducati staff allocation in his box as he has had until now.”
Although Marquez’s strong season and VR46’s decision to forego the second bike happened simultaneously, Ducati was under no obligation to supply a full factory bike to Gresini. But the 29-year-old’s progression has been so obvious that doing otherwise would have been like shooting itself in the foot, especially with Bagnaia failing to meet the expectations of a two-time world champion this year.
Bringing Marc and Alex together at Ducati “not the priority”
While many hope that the Marquez brothers will be reunited at the factory Ducati team in 2027, the brand insists that “it’s very unlikely that will happen as it doesn’t fit Ducati’s philosophy,” which is more focused on fostering “fierce” competition between team-mates.
Marc Marquez also downplayed the idea.
“Of course I’d like it, but it’s not the priority. I need to see what’s best for me sportingly and what’s best for Alex, depending on the projects that may arise”, he said in an interview with El Periodico.
“I am the champion and Alex is the runner-up, so he will also have more than one offer, and then each of us will have to consider things selfishly. If we can coincide, I’d be delighted. Who could be a better team-mate than your brother? But I see it as difficult – these are things you don’t seek out.”
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com
