Pecco Bagnaia Out; Enea Bastianini Takes a Swipe at Ducati

Ducati is parting ways with Pecco Bagnaia at the end of the year, and in 2027, its factory team will field a lineup without any Italian riders: Pedro Acosta will replace the Piedmontese rider and team up with Marc Marquez. On the sidelines of the Dutch MotoGP Grand Prix, in an interview with Eurosport, former Ducati rider Enea Bastianini took a jab at the Borgo Panigale team for its recent decisions.

“Ducati has handled things in a peculiar way; if there are no Italians left, it’s because something didn’t work out. But it’s not up to me to judge that,” said the KTM rider. The Rimini native believes that Marc Marquez’s arrival has completely changed Ducati’s policies: “In 2024, Ducati abandoned one project direction to pursue another. That’s when things changed. There were many Italians there, and the strategy changed.”

“Next year, with Acosta and Marquez, it’s going to be a lot of fun. Acosta will fit right in and be very fast from the start. Because he adapts very well to any situation. And as we saw at Balaton, Marc never gives up.”

The press release from the Borgo Panigale team confirmed that the 2026 Valencia Grand Prix will be the Piedmontese rider’s final race in red. Eight years of shared history, two consecutive world titles in 2022 and 2023, 31 wins, and 63 podium finishes: numbers that make Bagnaia the most successful rider in Ducati’s history. In his farewell message, the Turin-born rider did not hide his emotion: “You were my dream, and you became the most beautiful reality ever,” Bagnaia wrote, adding that “last season it was difficult to get along; we clashed more than we would have liked, and something began to change.”