Ducati, the dominant force in MotoGP, has issued a stark warning to its growing list of rivals, who have visibly closed the performance gap in recent rounds.
Team Manager Davide Tardozzi concedes that MotoGP’s new regulations “are working very good” in allowing rival manufacturers to catch up. However, he accompanied the praise with a palpable threat: “Gigi is starting to think again.”
Despite a turbulent pre-season that saw them shelve their planned 2025-spec engine, Ducati has maintained its supremacy this season, largely thanks to the phenomenal form of Marc Marquez.
The 32-year-old has been unstoppable, racking up 11 Grand Prix victories and 14 Sprint wins on the GP25, putting one hand firmly on the 2025 World Championship trophy. Pecco Bagnaia also added a Sunday victory at COTA with the current package.
Yet, a recent surge in competition from Aprilia and KTM has put the red factory under pressure, highlighted by Marco Bezzecchi’s fierce, race-long battle with Marquez at Misano.
Speaking ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, Tardozzi revealed that the team had initially been confident enough to freeze development on the 2025 machine following their blistering early-season performance.
But the intensifying challenge has now prompted General Manager Gigi Dall’Igna to “open some drawers for something new.”
“We thought that it was good for us to stop the development on the 2025 bike because we saw in the beginning of the year that the performance was incredible,” Tardozzi stated.
“But it seems that Dorna’s rules work very good, because our opponents grow a lot this year.
“Gigi is now starting to think again.
“He said it’s better that we go back to the desk and start to open some drawers for something new and start thinking about next year at the end of the year.”
