DALL’IGNA SAYS ACOSTA SIGNING CONTINUES DUCATI’S PUSH FOR TOP RIDERS
24 Sept 2026·
Ducati’s decision to bring Pedro Acosta into its factory MotoGP team for 2027 follows the same principle that guided its signing of Marc Marquez: assemble the strongest rider pairing possible, according to general manager Luigi Dall’Igna.
Acosta, 22, is set to join Marquez on a two-year deal when the new 850cc regulations take effect, replacing Francesco Bagnaia. Ducati moved for the Spaniard as his KTM contract approached its end. The change will give the factory team an all-Spanish line-up and, Ducati hopes, two riders capable of fighting at the front during a major technical transition.
Dall’Igna said the team’s priority was not to ensure that one rider received more credit than another, but to build the best possible squad. Asked whether he minded Marquez attracting more attention than Ducati, he replied: “No. In the end, we chose Marc, and he chose us. I’ve never been jealous of the fact that someone might put in a bit more than someone else.”
He added: “The goal is always to have the best team possible – to have the two best riders on the grid. That was the goal when we signed Marc and Pecco. It’s the goal with pairing Marc with Pedro. And it’s the goal we have for the future, as well.”
Bagnaia had been the centrepiece of Ducati’s project after joining the team’s rise to the top, challenging for the championship across four successive seasons and winning the title in 2022 and 2023. Marquez’s arrival in 2025 changed the balance. He won the championship that year with five rounds remaining and has since become Ducati’s leading source of victories: he has taken five of the seven Grands Prix won by a Ducati rider in 2026. With seven rounds left this season, Marquez is 12 points behind Aprilia’s Jorge Martin.
Ducati’s choice of Marquez had already meant passing over Martin, who believed his title challenges in 2023 and 2024 had earned him the factory seat. Martin went on to win the 2024 championship with Pramac, but Ducati had committed to Marquez for the following season.
The team is now making another change after Bagnaia’s results declined. He finished fifth in the 2025 standings and sits ninth in 2026, while struggling to match Marquez as a teammate. Ducati had decided against extending his contract beyond this year; Acosta is reported to have signed his deal in December 2025.
The move also gives Ducati a fresh pairing ahead of the 2027 rules reset. Bagnaia’s difficulties with the GP26 continued at the Austrian Grand Prix, where the atmosphere in his side of the garage was described as subdued. Ducati has not publicly presented a garage reset as a reason for the change, but its stated aim is clear: put two of the grid’s strongest riders in its factory team.