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The story
History
Ducati's history with motorsport began with speed records on Cucciolo motorized bicycle factory racers in 1951, followed in 1954 with bringing in Fabio Taglioni to found a road-racing program with the 100 Gran Sport.
2003
Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi were signed to the then-named "Ducati Marlboro Team" for the 2003 season. Capirossi got a podium in the opening round of the championship in Japan, and won in Catalonia. Capirossi finished fourth in the final championship standings and Bayliss sixth. Ducati finished an impressive second in the Constructors' standings, behind Honda and ahead of Yamaha.
2004
A large part of 2004 was already over before Ducati's bike became competitive. Bayliss scored his only podium position of the season at the penultimate round in Phillip Island, and Capirossi at the final round in Valencia.
2005
In 2005 Bayliss was replaced by Spain's Carlos Checa, and Ducati switched tyre suppliers to Bridgestone. Capirossi took two wins at Motegi and Sepang, while Checa scored two podium positions. They finished sixth and ninth in the riders' standings.
2006
The 2006 season proved turbulent for Ducati. Checa was replaced by fellow Spaniard Sete Gibernau.
The team took its first win of 2006 in the opening round at Jerez, followed by a podium in Qatar. Capirossi led the championship for a short time, but at the start of the Catalan Grand Prix, Capirossi and Gibernau collided. Both riders ended up injured and in hospital, with Gibernau sustaining a broken collar bone.
Capirossi struggled at the Dutch TT a week later, while Gibernau was replaced by German Alex Hofmann for several rounds after undergoing additional surgery. With Gibernau also sidelined for the final round of the season at Valencia, Ducati recalled Bayliss, who had recently been crowned Superbike World Champion. Bayliss won the race, his first MotoGP victory, with Capirossi taking second place for the first Ducati 1–2 finish.
2007
Casey Stoner joined Ducati as Capirossi's latest teammate in 2007. Ducati's bike was fast, and Stoner was particularly able to maximise its speed on tracks with long straights. Stoner dominated the field for most of the season. He became Ducati's first world champion in MotoGP at Motegi on September 23, 2007, with three rounds to spare. Ducati also secured the Constructors' and Teams' championships to secure their first "triple crown".
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At the end of season, Ducati's chief engineer Alan Jenkins was awarded the Sir Jackie Stewart Award for brilliance throughout the season.
2008
Casey Stoner was partnered by Marco Melandri in 2008. Melandri had a difficult time adapting to Ducati's GP8 bike, and his two-year contract was reduced to one year by mutual agreement with Ducati midway through the season. Stoner won six races, and finished second in the riders' standings behind Valentino Rossi.
2009
Casey Stoner was partnered by Nicky Hayden in 2009. Halfway through the season, Stoner missed three races due to illness and was replaced by Finnish rookie Mika Kallio. He still managed four race wins, and finished fourth in the standings behind Yamaha duo Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, and Honda rider Dani Pedrosa. Hayden took a podium at Indianapolis and finished thirteenth.
2010
Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden were retained for the 2010 season. On 9 July 2010, Casey Stoner announced that he would leave Ducati for a more competitive bike at Honda in 2011. In his last season with Ducati he took three race wins and finished fourth in the standings again despite five DNFs.
2011
On 15 August 2010, Valentino Rossi confirmed he had signed a two-year deal to ride for Ducati in 2011 and 2012. Nicky Hayden was retained to partner him. The Ducati-Rossi marriage did not prove to be a happy one: Rossi endured his first winless season in the premier class in 2011. He finished seventh in the standings, and Hayden eighth.
2012
Rossi's struggles on the Ducati continued with another winless season in 2012. He decided to return to his old team Yamaha.
2013
Nicky Hayden signed a one-year contract to remain with Ducati in 2013. He was joined by Italian rider Andrea Dovizioso. The best race result achieved by either rider all season was a fourth place for Dovizioso in Le Mans, but the team saw relatively consistent performance. They finished eighth and ninth behind a group of utterly dominant Hondas and Yamahas.
2014
Dovizioso remained with Ducati in 2014, where he was joined by former team-mate Cal Crutchlow. Dovizioso scored a podium finish in Texas, and finished an impressive fifth in the riders' standings behind the Honda and Yamaha factory duos. Crutchlow finished thirteenth after suffering eight DNFs, but also scored a podium finish in Aragon.
2015
Dovizioso remained with Ducati in 2015. Crutchlow was replaced by Andrea Iannone, a promotion from Ducati satellite team Pramac. They rode the highly anticipated GP15, a full redesign of the Desmosedici by new team race director Gigi Dall'Igna which debuted at the second test in Sepang.
Dovizioso took three consecutive second-place finishes to start the season, and an additional two podiums. Iannone took three podiums but rode with slightly more consistency, and fewer technical problems, than his teammate. Dovizioso finished seventh in the standings, and Iannone fifth.
2016
Dovizioso and Iannone were retained for 2016. Both suffered a string of DNFs but took one race win each in Malaysia (Dovizioso) and Austria (Iannone). They finished fifth and ninth in the standings.
Casey Stoner renewed his relationship with Ducati as a test rider; he outpaced both factory riders on the final day of preseason testing in Sepang.
2017
Dovizioso signed for a further two seasons. Five-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo also joined Ducati on a two-year contract, replacing Iannone.
The 2017 season was the closest Dovizioso ever came to winning a MotoGP championship: he scored six race wins and remained in contention for the title all season long against Honda's dominant lead rider Marc Márquez. At the final race in Valencia, Dovizioso crashed, leaving Márquez to secure the championship without pressure.
Lorenzo struggled to adapt to the Ducati, taking three podium positions but finishing a distant seventh in the standings.
2018
Dovizioso and Lorenzo were retained for 2018. Dovizioso was again Márquez's closest challenger, but finished the season 76 points adrift of him in the standings. Lorenzo took three race wins, just one less than Dovizioso, but suffered from heavy inconsistency and finished the season in ninth. Ducati finished second in the Teams' Championship behind Honda.
2019
Dovizioso was retained for 2019, while Lorenzo left to join Márquez at Honda. He was replaced by Italian rider Danilo Petrucci, who was promoted from Ducati satellite team Pramac.
Dovizioso was championship runner-up for a third consecutive season, but this time finished a colossal 171 points behind Márquez. He scored two race wins, in Qatar and Austria. Petrucci also won a race, in Mugello, and finished sixth in the standings. Ducati finished second in the Teams' Championship behind Honda again.
2020
Dovizioso and Petrucci were retained for the truncated 2020 season.
Dovizioso took a race victory in Austria, while Petrucci won in Le Mans. They finished fourth and twelfth in the standings respectively. Despite a mediocre fourth-place finish for the factory team in the Teams' Championship, Ducati won the Constructors' MotoGP World Championship for the second time.
Dovizioso announced his upcoming departure from Ducati in August, citing his broken relationship with general manager Gigi Dall'Igna. Petrucci was also disposed of.
2021
Italian Francesco Bagnaia and Australian Jack Miller joined the newly rebranded "Ducati Lenovo Team" for 2021.
Bagnaia made a strong start to the season, with three podium finishes in the first four races. After a relative mid-season slump, his performance picked up at the end of the year, and he scored four race wins across the last six rounds to finish championship runner-up. Miller finished in fourth with two race wins. Ducati won the Constructors' Championship for the third time, as well as the Teams' Championship.
2022
Bagnaia and Miller were retained for 2022. Despite a relatively slow start to the season and five DNFs, Bagnaia picked up momentum and scored seven race victories across the season. After finishing ninth at the final race in Valencia, Bagnaia became Ducati's second-ever MotoGP World Champion.
Ducati also won the Constructors' and Teams' championships to secure their second "triple crown".
2023
Bagnaia was retained for 2023, to be partnered by satellite team Gresini promotion Enea Bastianini in an all-Italian lineup.
Bagnaia weathered three DNFs and a DNS to retain his title. He became the first Ducati rider to win multiple and consecutive MotoGP championships. Ducati retained the Constructors' title, but lost the Teams' title to their own satellite team Pramac. An injury-ridden season saw Bastianini finish in fifteenth place in the standings.
2024
Bagnaia and Bastianini were retained for 2024.
Bagnaia took eleven race wins in 2024, over triple that of any of his competitors. However, plagued by three DNFs and poor performance across the sprint races, he lost the championship to Ducati Pramac satellite rider Jorge Martín at the final race of the season. Bastianini finished in fourth place. The factory team secured the Teams' championship.
Ducati broke many constructors' records that season. They took fourteen podium lockouts, seventeen 1–2 podium lockouts, and nineteen race wins, falling just one short of a clean sweep. They retained the Constructors' championship with staggering dominance.
2025
Speculation was rife throughout 2024 as to who would occupy the second Ducati factory seat opposite Bagnaia in 2025. It was reported that Jorge Martín had been promised the seat. On 5 June 2024, it was announced that Marc Márquez would instead join the factory Ducati team on a two-year contract. Martín then defected to Aprilia.
A championship battle between Bagnaia and Márquez was anticipated but did not materialise, as Bagnaia struggled to adapt to the new GP25 bike. He won two races, but his performance continued to slump, and he ended the year with five consecutive DNFs to finish fifth in the standings. Márquez romped through the season to clinch a relatively unchallenged ninth world title in Japan with five rounds to spare. He became the factory Ducati team's third MotoGP champion. Ducati won the "triple crown" again: the Riders', Constructors', and Teams' championships.
Ducati decided not to use its flawed GP25 engine for the 2025 season, resorting to a hybrid GP24-GP25 labelled the "GP24.9". This engine will also be used for the 2026 season, before homologation rules are changed in 2027.
2026
Bagnaia and Márquez will be retained for the 2026 season.
History
Using V-twin engines Ducati was able to dominate the championship for many years. Ducati won its first riders' championship in 1990 with Raymond Roche.
The 1991 title was won by Doug Polen riding for the customer team managed by Eraldo Ferracci. From 1994 to 1999 Carl Fogarty won the title 4 times on Ducatis.
Australian Troy Corser won the 1996 title on a factory-spec Ducati fielded by Austrian team Promotor Racing.
In 2001 Troy Bayliss won the first of his three titles.
In 2003, the rule changes in MotoGP allowing Four-stroke engines meant that the Japanese manufacturers had focused their resources there, leaving the Superbike World Championship with limited factory involvement.
Ducati Corse entered the only 2 Ducati 999s in the field, taking 20 wins from 24 races in a season where all races were won by Ducati.
Neil Hodgson won the title on a Factory Ducati, while the team finished the season with 600 points, a record point score by a constructor in a season. 2004 was a similar story, James Toseland winning the title although Ten Kate Honda's Chris Vermeulen prevented a Ducati clean-sweep.
2006 saw the return of Bayliss to the Superbike World Championship after 3 years in MotoGP. The combination of Bayliss and Ducati proved unstoppable and they dominated the season winning 12 races.
In 2007, Troy Bayliss finished fourth riding once again a Ducati 999. Even though production of the 999 ended in 2006 and the bike was replaced by the Ducati 1098, Ducati produced 150 limited edition 999s to satisfy homologation requirements.
For 2008, Ducati raced a homologated version of the 1098R. The FIM, the sanctioning body for the Superbike World Championship, raised the displacement limit for 2 cylinder engines to 1,200 cc. Bayliss won his third world championship and retired at the end of the 2008 season.
2009 saw Noriyuki Haga, who replaced Bayliss, partnered with Michel Fabrizio. Haga had a fantastic season on Ducati but lost the championship by 6 points; Haga ended the season as second while Fabrizio as third in overall championship standing.
Once again, 2010 began with Noriyuki Haga partnering with Michel Fabrizio for Ducati in SBK.
On 27 August 2010, it was announced that Ducati SBK will no longer compete with a factory team in 2011, after 23 seasons which had brought the marque a total of 29 riders' and manufacturers' championship titles, instead limiting their participation to privateer teams running their works bikes.
During 2011-12 Ducati gave factory support to Althea Racing privateer team, winning the 2011 title with Carlos Checa.
Having parted from Althea at the end of 2012, for 2013 Ducati supported Francis Batta's Alstare Racing team introducing the new 1199 Panigale R in the world championship.
On 15 November 2013, it was announced that Ducati would be returning as a factory team in SBK as Ducati Superbike Team.
For 2014 the returning factory team signed Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano.
Davies was runner-up in 2015, 2017 and 2018, and third in 2016. Teammate Marco Melandri finished 4th in 2017 and 5th in 2018. The Italian was replaced by Álvaro Bautista in 2019.
The Spaniard began the season with 11 consecutive wins, but later had mixed results.
From Wikipedia’s article on Ducati Corse, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4