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Fabio Di Giannantonio criticizes Ducati for changes made to accommodate Marc Marquez, claiming it has weakened the team's performance. As of early 2026, Ducati is struggling, with Aprilia emerging as the frontrunner.
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Fabio Di Giannantonio of VR46 believes that Ducati started to lose some of their strengths when they began making changes to accommodate Marc Marquez.
Marquez was untouchable in 2025, but things haven’t gone Ducati’s way early in 2026. Aprilia have come out of the gates fast, taking a clear step forward and looking like the team to beat so far.
The Spaniard dominated last year’s championship, wrapping up the title with five rounds still to go. But he’s only fifth in the standings heading into the Spanish Grand Prix this week, while Di Giannantonio is one spot ahead of him and sits as Ducati’s top rider so far.
Aprilia have made a fast start in 2026. Marco Bezzecchi leads the championship after three rounds with 81 points, just four ahead of teammate Jorge Martin. KTM’s Pedro Acosta is third on 60 points, followed by Di Giannantonio on 50 and Marquez on 45 for Ducati.
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Compared to the Ducati GP26, the Aprilia RS-GP has proven to be a better all-round package, particularly in how it handles corners. Meanwhile, Francesco Bagnaia has been dealing with tyre wear issues that only seem to show up during races.
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Di Giannantonio now points back to Ducati’s choice to shift their development focus toward Marquez last year as the starting point of their struggles. He feels that tailoring the Desmosedici around Marquez’s needs has actually taken away from what made the bike strong in the first place.
Ducati made adjustments to their bike and strategy to suit Marc Marquez's riding style, which Fabio Di Giannantonio believes compromised the team's strengths.
Ducati is currently struggling in the 2026 season, with Marc Marquez sitting fifth in the standings and Di Giannantonio as the top Ducati rider.
As of now, Aprilia is leading the MotoGP standings, having made a strong start to the 2026 season.
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“I think that starting last year, Ducati’s development direction has shifted toward Marquez,” Di Giannantonio said, via quotes by Motorsport.com. “Pecco and I struggle more because of our riding style, which is the opposite of Marc’s.
The switch in 2026 was clear, as Aprilia took over as the team to beat. Bezzecchi is on a run of five straight wins and hasn’t missed a lap at the front during that stretch.
Bezzecchi closed out 2025 with two wins and hasn’t missed a step in 2026 so far. On the other hand, Di Giannantonio holds the only podium for Ducati this season with his third-place finish in Brazil, where Aprilia locked out the top two spots.
The four riders using Ducati’s GP26 haven’t found much comfort with it either. Alex Marquez from Gresini thinks every Ducati rider is having similar problems. Even Bagnaia feels he could be winning if he were still on last season’s GP24 model.
Apart from losing rear grip early in races across Thailand, Brazil and America – but especially at Interlagos – Bagnaia said he has “completely changed” his braking style for this season. The two-time champion does not feel like either version allows him ride naturally right now compared to earlier models developed through years past like those tuned by Casey Stoner or Jorge Lorenzo before him.
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