General Manager: Luigi Dall'Igna[1] Sporting Director: Mauro Grassilli[2] General Manager Off-Road: Paolo Ciabatti[2] MotoGP Race Team Manager: Davide Tardozzi Technical Director Davide Barana[3][4]
More than one hundred people work in Ducati Corse (almost 10percent of the Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. workforce).[5] Ducati Corse competes in the MotoGP class of Grand Prix motorcycle racing, the Superbike and Supersport world championships, together with national championships. New for 2024 is an official entry to the MotoE World Championship race series with rider Chaz Davies, under the name Aruba Cloud MotoE team.[6]
Between 1998 and 2004 the racing division existed as a subsidiary company named Ducati Corse S.r.l., fully owned by Ducati Motor Holding.[7] Ducati won MotoGP world championship title for both rider (Casey Stoner, Francesco Bagnaia) and constructor in 2007 and 2022, and two consecutive constructors' world championships in 2020 and 2021. In addition, Ducati has won multiple Superbike world championships, with Carl Fogarty (four titles) and Troy Bayliss (three titles) being the most successful riders.
Technical research and development is composed of two teams responsible for the design and development of the motorcycles that compete in the MotoGP and Superbike championships.
Sporting activities
The sporting activities department is responsible for the factory teams that take part in the MotoGP and Superbike championships.
Commercial activities
The commercial activities department is responsible for providing private teams with motorcycles and spare parts. It also provides consultancy services and technical assistance to Ducati privateers take part in the Superbike World Championship and in national Superbike championships. From 2004 Ducati Corse also supports a satellite team in MotoGP, supplying bikes and technical support.
Marketing and communication
The marketing and communication department's goal is to increase and manage the Ducati brand image in racing. It is also responsible for Ducati Corse official merchandising line.
When the MotoGP technical rules changed in the 2002 season, giving priority to four-stroke machinery, Ducati decided to enter Grand Prix motorcycle racing.
Marlboro has been the title sponsor since 2003, although its name does not appear on the team's motorcycle. This comes at a time when advertising of tobacco sponsorship has become illegal in the European Union and other major teams have withdrawn from relationships with tobacco companies, for example Yamaha ended their five-year relationship with Fortuna/Gauloises. The "controversial" team name associated with Marlboro's parent company, Philip Morris, was removed from the motorcycle livery for a May race event due to possible contravention of local advertising law,[8] similarly it had been removed from Ferrari F1 race cars earlier in 2019.[9][10]
A large part of the 2004 season went by before the bike became competitive, but the season concluded with both riders on the podium.
2005
In the 2005 season, Bayliss was replaced by Spain's Carlos Checa and Ducati switched tyre suppliers to Bridgestone. Capirossi took two wins at Twin Ring Motegi and Sepang, while Checa scored a brace of podium finishes.
2006
Spanish rider Sete Gibernau replaced Checa for the 2006 season. 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 while, but at the start of the Catalan Grand Prix in Barcelona, Capirossi's bike collided with Gibernau's. Both riders ended up injured and in hospital, with Gibernau sustaining a broken collar bone. Capirossi struggled at the Dutch TT race 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 was recently 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
Engine displacement was reduced to 800cc for the 2007 season. Ducati started development of its 800cc motorcycle extremely early, and according to Ducati's racing chief Filippo Preziosi, by August 2006, Ducati had already built twenty 800cc engines with various specifications.[11]Loris Capirossi was joined in the team by Casey Stoner. During the most part of the 2007 season, Stoner dominated the field, obtaining his and the team's first MotoGP World Championship at Twin Ring Motegi on September 23, 2007, four races before the end of the season.
At the end of season, Ducati's chief engineer Alan Jenkins was awarded the Sir Jackie Stewart Award for brilliance throughout the season.[12]
2008
Casey Stoner remained with the team and was partnered with Marco Melandri for the 2008 season. Melandri had a difficult time adapting to the GP-8's performance, and mutually agreed to shorten his two-year contract to one year midway through the 2008 MotoGP season.
2009
Again, Casey Stoner remained with the team while Nicky Hayden became Stoner's new teammate on the factory Carbon Fibre chassis Ducati GP9, replacing Marco Melandri who moved to Kawasaki for the 2009 season. Halfway through the season Finnish rookie Mika Kallio was given the chance to compete for the team for 3 races, as Stoner was unavailable due to illness.
On 15 August 2010, after the MotoGP Brno race, Valentino Rossi confirmed he would be riding for Ducati Corse, signing a two-year deal to start with the 2011 season.[14][15]
Andrea Dovizioso remained with Ducati for the 2015 season with Andrea Iannone coming to the factory team from a Pramac Ducati. 2015 awaited the highly anticipated GP15, a full redesign of the Desmosedici by Gigi Dall'Igna which made its debut at the second February test in Sepang.[19]
2016
Dovizioso and Iannone remained as the factory team riders for the 2016 season with the Desmo GP16, cited as being an evolution of the GP15.[20] Perhaps the most notable change within Ducati Corse came with the arrival of Casey Stoner as the division's top test rider who immediately gelled with the Ducati,[21] in addition to Michele Pirro. Ducati has fielded a total of 8 bikes on the MotoGP circuit for 2016 between the factory team, Pramac Yakhnich team, Aspar Team, and Avintia Racing.
2017
In 2016, Ducati Corse signed five time world champion and reigning MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo to pilot the Ducati for the 2017 and 2018 seasons.[22] They have also retained Andrea Dovizioso, for a further two seasons.[23]
Jack Miller and Francesco Bagnaia moved to this team. In the overall standings, Bagnaia secured second place. Ducati won the Constructors' MotoGP World Championship for the third time,
2022
Triple Crown for Ducati: the Bologna-based manufacturer wins the Constructors' Title, the Teams' Title for the Ducati Lenovo Team and the Riders' Title in MotoGP.[24]
2025
Marc Márquez signs for Ducati Lenovo Team to be alongside Francesco Bagnaia until 2026.[25][26]
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 1999Carl 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 2001Troy Bayliss won the first of his three titles.
In 2003, the rule changes in MotoGP allowing 4-stroke engines meant that the Japanese manufacturers had focused their resources there, leaving the Superbike World Championship with limited factory involvement.[39] 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 1,200cc.[40] 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.[41] 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.
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.[42]
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.[43]
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.
By season results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
From 2022, new rules allowed manufacturers having machines with larger displacement engines and fewer cylinders to compete in the Supersport World Championship against the more-traditional, 600cc four-cylinder types, including the Kawasaki ZX-6R and Yamaha R6 which had dominated the class. These changes allowed the opportunity for Ducati's 955 Panigale V2, as an official entry ridden by Nicolò Bulega, to finish the championship fourth in 2022 and as winner in 2023.[44][45]
New for 2024 is an official entry to the MotoE World Championship electrically powered race series with rider Chaz Davies, under the name Aruba Cloud MotoE team, having taken over he grid-slot previously used by Pramac. The series uses Ducati V21L machines.[6]
Valentino Rossi is an Italian racing driver, former professional motorcycle road racer and nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion. Nicknamed The Doctor, Rossi is widely considered one of the greatest motorcycle racers of all time. He is also the only road racer to have competed in 400 or more Grands Prix. Of Rossi's nine Grand Prix World Championships, seven were in the premier 500cc/MotoGP class. He holds the record for most premier class victories and podiums, with 89 victories and 199 podiums to his name. He won premier class World Championships with both Honda and Yamaha. He rode with the number 46 for his entire career.
Nicholas Patrick Hayden, nicknamed "The Kentucky Kid", was an American professional motorcycle racer who won the MotoGP World Championship in 2006. Hayden began racing motorcycles at a young age. He began his road racing career in the CMRA before progressing to the AMA Supersport Championship and then to the AMA Superbike Championship. He won the AMA title in 2002 and was approached by the Repsol Honda team to race for them in MotoGP in 2003.
The Ducati Desmosedici is a four-stroke V4 engine racing motorcycle made by Ducati for MotoGP racing. The series nomenclature is GP with the two-digit year appended, such as Desmosedici GP10 for 2010. In 2006 Ducati made a short production run of 1,500 street-legal variants, the Desmosedici RR.
James Michael Toseland is an English former motorcycle racer and vocalist of his own rock band named Toseland. For 2020, he was team-manager of Wepol Racing with riders in World Supersport and Supersport 300, and is a television motorcycle racing commentator.
Troy Andrew Bayliss is an Australian motorcycle racer. During his career Bayliss won the Superbike World Championship three times and a MotoGP race, all with Ducati. He finished his career after winning the 2008 World Superbike title. His 52 World Superbike victories ranks fourth all time in the history of the championship behind Jonathan Rea, Álvaro Bautista and Carl Fogarty.
Suomy is an Italian brand of motorcycle helmets.
Casey Joel Stoner is an Australian retired professional motorcycle racer, and a two-time MotoGP World Champion, in 2007 and 2011. During his MotoGP career, Stoner raced for the factory teams of Ducati and Honda, winning a title for each team.
Gresini Racing is a motorcycle racing team competing in the MotoGP World Championship under the name Gresini Racing MotoGP as a Ducati satellite team, in the Moto2 World Championship as QJmotor Gresini Moto2, and the MotoE World Cup as Felo Gresini MotoE. The team also competes in CIV Moto3.
Michel Fabrizio is a former professional motorcycle road racer. From 2006 to 2015, he raced in the Superbike World Championship. In 2021 he competed in the Supersport World Championship aboard a Kawasaki ZX-6R, before retiring on September 26 from motorsport as a sign of protest after Dean Berta Viñales fatal crash in Jerez.
Andrea Dovizioso is an Italian former professional motorcycle racer. He raced with WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team for the 2022 season but announced his intended-retirement after the Misano round in September. Dovizioso was the 2004 125cc World Champion, but is best known for his time with the Ducati Team in the MotoGP class, finishing championship runner-up to Marc Márquez for three consecutive seasons in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Cal Crutchlow is an English professional motorcycle racer who retired from regular competition after the 2020 season. He is contracted as a test rider for Yamaha Motor Racing, which he is expected to continue in 2022 and 2023. During 2021 he returned to race for two Yamaha teams as a replacement rider in four MotoGP events, and replaced Andrea Dovizioso for the last six events of 2022 after Dovizioso's retirement announced mid-season.
Superbike World Championship is a silhouette road racing series based on heavily modified production sports motorcycles.
Pramac Racing is a motorcycle racing team competing in the MotoGP World Championship. The team was created in 2002 by Italian company Pramac. In 2005 Pramac Racing joined forces with Spanish d'Antin MotoGP to form "Pramac d'Antin" and in 2007 the team became part of the Pramac Group. After Luis d'Antin left the team in 2008, the team became known as "Pramac Racing". Their base is in Casole d'Elsa, Tuscany, Italy.
Repsol Honda is the official factory team of the Honda Racing Corporation in the MotoGP class of Grand Prix motorcycle racing, backed by principal sponsor Repsol.
Pons Racing was a motorcycle and auto racing team owned by the British company Pons Racing UK Limited. The team principal is former 250 cc world champion, Sito Pons. In motorcycle road racing world championships, Pons has fielded riders such as Alex Barros, Max Biaggi, Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau. In auto racing, his team won the 2004 World Series by Nissan championship with driver Heikki Kovalainen.
The 2012 FIM MotoGP World Championship was the premier class of the 64th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. Casey Stoner started the season as the defending World Champion, while Honda was the defending Manufacturers' Champion.
Michele Pio Pirro is a motorcycle road racer from Italy, He was 2007 and 2008 the Italian CIV National Champion in the Superstock class and a test rider for Ducati factory racing in MotoGP and rides occasionally as a wildcard.
Grand Prix motorcycle racing sponsorship liveries have been used since the late 1960s, replacing the previously used national colours. With sponsors becoming more important with the rising costs in the motorcycle CC classes, many teams wanted to be able to display the logos of their sponsors as clearly as possible.
The 2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship was the premier class of the 73rd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. Fabio Quartararo won his first world title, with five race wins ahead of securing the title in the third last race of the season. Quartararo became the first ever Frenchman to win the premier class title, which was also the first title for a non-Spanish rider since Australian Casey Stoner in 2011. The season also saw Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martín win their first premier class races. In the overall standings, Bagnaia secured second place and reigning champion Joan Mir secured third place, while Martín was named rookie of the year. Ducati secured the constructors' championship for the second consecutive season and the teams' championship for the first time since 2007. In total, eight different riders won Grands Prix during the season.
The 2022 FIM MotoGP World Championship was the premier class of the 74th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. Fabio Quartararo came into the season as the defending World Champion. Ducati secured the constructors' championship, with the factory Ducati Lenovo Team securing the teams' championship and factory rider Francesco Bagnaia achieving the riders' championship. In total, seven different riders and five manufacturers won Grands Prix during the season. As the only manufacturer without a victory, the season saw Honda finish in last place of the manufacturers' standings for the first time in the modern MotoGP era.
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